Leek and Potato Soup

I've already got two other variations of this recipe on this site, but this weekend, with one of my local shops having some enormous leeks that looked perfect for the job, I decided to make the plain old simple version of it. I always find that leeks from the supermarket are always over-trimmed for making this soup as you get none of the green part of the leek and so the soup can look a little pale. The previous photo of Leek, Potato and Carrot soup definitely highlights this fact.

This was probably the first soup I ever tried to make, and I remember asking my Mum for the recipe and thinking that it just sounded far too simple to taste as good as I remembered. The recipe she gave me is the same as below, although in those days, she just told me to use Water instead of the Bouillon. This still tastes good, but a little Bouillon definitely enhances the flavour.

It has been pretty cold and wet over the weekend, so I wanted to make the soup nice and thick, especially as I wasn't having any bread with it. It also helped in the detox process which was needed after the excessive alcohol consumption during and after the Rugby on Saturday. For the final day of the Six Nations, with all games being on the same day, I think I'm going to cook the night before (like last year) so that there is something here that I can easily reheat. With Wales looking good for the Championship, I'm sure there will be more excesses.

Recipe for the Leek and Potato Soup (Serves 4)

• 25g Lightly Salted Butter
• 2 huge Leeks, green bits and all, roughly chopped
• 2 Baking Potatoes, cut into 1cm cubes
• 3 Bay Leaves
• 0.5 Litre Swiss Marigold Vegetable Bouillon
• 0.5 Litre Water
• Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Add the butter to a heavy bottom pan, and gently soften the leek in the butter for about 10 minutes. Add in the potato cubes and continue to gently cook for another 5 minutes. Add in the Vegetable Bouillon, Bay Leaves and lots of Fresh Ground Black Pepper and simmer for 40 minutes until the Potato is fully cooked. Add a little salt to taste, but personally, with there being Salt in the Butter and Bouillon, I prefer to just add Black Pepper myself.

You can serve the soup immediately, or blend to make completely smooth. Personally, I like to blend just half of it so that you get a nice thick soup with nice big chunks in it.