Hands down the BEST creamy leek and potato soup recipe you'll ever try - Smooth and rich, loaded with flavour and topped with crispy leeks and toasted hazelnut!
4leekswhite and light green parts only, roughly chopped
2garlic clovespeeled and smashed
900gRatte, Yukon Gold or Maris Piper potatoespeeled and roughly chopped into chunks
2bay leaves
1sprig fresh thymeplus more for garnish if desired
1sprig fresh rosemaryplus more for garnish
200ghazelnutspeeled
1.5ltvegetable stockhomemade is best
100mlfresh whole milkhot
1teaspoonsea salt
¼teaspoonfreshly-cracked white pepper
Instructions
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, then add leeks, garlic and potatoes, and stir-fry, stirring occasionally for about 5 min,
Fold in bay leaves, thyme and rosemary and season with sea salt and white pepper.
Pour in the stock and cover with a lid. Bring to a light boil, then lower the heat and cook with the lid slightly on the side (to let the steam escape) for a further 20 minutes, or until veggies are tender and cooked through.
In the meantime, heat a large skillet and toast the hazelnuts for about 3-5 mins, until lightly browned, then cut into halves and set aside until ready to serve.
Remove the bay leaves, rosemary and thyme sprigs from the pot, together with a handful of leeks and potatoes. Adjust seasoning, pour in the milk, then blend the soup with an immersion blender until smooth.
If the soup is too thin, return the pot to the heat and simmer the soup until thickens, if the soup is too thick, just add a little bit of extra stock.
Chop the reserved crispy leeks and cut the potatoes into tiny cubes.Divide the soup into bowls, and top each soup with chopped leeks, 3-4 potato cubes, chopped hazelnuts and extra rosemary and thyme leaves. Season with extra white pepper if desired, and serve immediately.
Notes
To make vegan leek and potato soup, simply omit the fresh milk and add a little more vegetable stock if necessary.To freeze this soup transfer leftovers into freezable containers, and store them in the freezer for up to 1 month.Whenever you fancy, take it out from the freezer, and defrost it in the fridge for 12 hours, or over the kitchen counter for about 6 hours. Then place in a pot and reheat until nicely hot.