Recipe: Simple Potato Leek Soup

I have a phobia about throwing away food.  This mostly comes from an impoverished upbringing in the semi-rural South, but be it nature or nurture, I have an aversion to leaving a plate unclean or throwing away expired food.  One of the results of this is that, on about a monthly basis, I run through my fridge and cabinets pulling out the things that are about to expire and trying to see what I can make with them before I have to throw them away.  You wouldn’t be surprised to find that this usually results in soup.  Because you can make soup out of just about anything, even other soup.

On my most recent jihad against expiration dates, I realized I actually had everything needed to make a potato leek soup.  I recently attended a dinner party at a friend’s house, and had a potato leek soup that she made that was so excellent I felt compelled to see if I could make one myself that was, if not as good, nearly as good, with the benefit of being as simple and quick to make as possible.

(If it’s not already apparent, one of the themes of nearly every recipe on this blog is simplicity.  I’ll talk about why soon, but I don’t want to get too far afield of the subject of soup.)

Here’s how to make the easiest potato leek soup that doesn’t involve opening a can.

You’ll need:

• 1 leek, bottom half only, chopped
• 1/4 white onion, chopped
• 4 red new potatoes, cut into thin slices (so they’ll cook faster)
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 4oz half and half
• 1/4 tablespoon thyme, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon butter

Steps:

• In a medium skillet with a high lip, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the leek, onion, and potatoes, and sautée, adding salt and pepper to taste, until the leek pieces are tender (about 7-10 minutes).
• Pour in the chicken broth and add the thyme, bring everything just to a boil and then cover and reduce heat to a simmer.  Allow to simmer about 10-15 minutes or until the potato pieces are thoroughly tender and part easily under a spatula.
• Remove the mixture and pour everything into a blender.  Add the flour and half and half.  Blend on a medium setting until the mixture is chopped and thoroughly even.
• Return the mixture to a medium saucepan and heat to serving temperature over medium heat.  Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

The nice thing about this recipe is that it only takes less than 25 minutes and makes two main-course-sized servings, so it’s easy to whip up as a quick and filling meal.