Leek, Potato and Blue Cheese Soup
A rich, smooth and velvety soup.
Ingredients
- 25 g butter
- 300 g leeks (about 2 average-sized, dark green tops removed, white bits thinly sliced)
- 175 g potatoes (peeled and chopped)
- 2 bay leaves
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 l light vegetable or chicken stock
- 75 ml single cream
- 100 g (to 150) blue cheese, such as cashel blue, stilton, gorgonzola or roquefort (crumbled plus 25g for serving)
Method
- Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan, add the leeks, potatoes and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper and cover.
- Turn the heat down to low and let the vegetables sweat for 10 minutes, stirring every now and then to ensure they don’t burn (see also the handy tip below).
- After 10 minutes add the stock, increase the heat and simmer for a further 8–10 minutes until the potatoes and leeks are soft.
- Remove the bay leaves, add the cream and the crumbled blue cheese and transfer to a liquidiser.
- Whiz the soup until it is smooth and velvety. Return to the saucepan to re-heat, tasting and seasoning if necessary.
- To serve, pour the soup into warm bowls and sprinkle with the extra crumbled blue cheese.
- Rachel’s handy tip: If making this soup with a strong blue cheese like Roquefort or Gorgonzola, I only add 100g, but if you are using a milder blue cheese like Cashel Blue, you might need 125–150g.
- Rachel’s handy tip: When sweating onions or other vegetables for a long time, I like to cover them with a butter wrapper or a piece of greaseproof paper as well as the saucepan lid. This helps to retain the moisture and makes sure they don’t burn.
Notes:
This recipe and many more are available from Rachel's book Rachel's Food for Living published by Harper Collins
