This soup is the ultimate comfort food on a chilly day; even better, it's simple to make.
Ingredients
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4
- 25g butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 medium potatoes, cut into cubes
- 2 leeks cut into slices
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- 600 ml vegetable or chicken stock
- Handful of chopped parsley
- 100ml cream
- Salt and pepper
For the croutons
- 2 slices of white bread cut into cubes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Method
- To make the croutons, pre-heat your oven to 200C, 180C fan, Gas 6.
- Toss the bread cubes in the oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Place on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 10 minutes until golden and crispy; set aside.
- To make the soup, melt the butter in a saucepan on a medium heat and add the olive oil.
- Add the potato, leek and garlic to the saucepan and cook for 10 minutes with the lid on to soften the vegetables. Do not allow the vegetables to burn; turn the heat low if needed.
- Add the fresh thyme leaves to the saucepan with the flour and combine all ingredients well on a low heat.
- On a low to medium heat, gradually add the stock into the saucepan, stirring while you add it.
- Bring everything to a light simmer and cook until you can easily pierce the potatoes with a fork.
- Add the parsley.
- Use a hand blender to blitz the soup to a smooth consistency.
- Return the saucepan to a medium heat and add the cream for a creamy finish.
- You can add more stock or cream at this point if you wish, depending on the soup consistency you prefer.
- It is really important to taste the soup at this point. You must add salt and pepper, which will make all the difference to the flavour, so take the time to taste and season well.
Recipe Tip: Freeze any leftover leeks for another soup day. Wash, slice and pop into a zip lock bag and freeze. Add directly from frozen when making soup next time.
