Creamy Leek & Potato Soup

• 500 gpotatoes, peeled and diced
• 3large leeks, white and pale green parts only, sliced
• 1medium onion, finely chopped
• 2garlic cloves, crushed
• 1bay leaf
• 1 tspdried thyme
• 1 lvegetable stock
• 100 mldouble cream
• 25 gbutter
• 1 tbspolive oil
• 10 gchives, finely snipped
• Fine salt and black pepper

Method

1. 1Melt the butter with 2 teaspoons of the olive oil, reserving the remaining teaspoon for serving in a heavy pot over a medium-low heat. Add the sliced leeks and chopped onion with a generous pinch of salt; the salt pulls the moisture out and stops them catching. Sweat gently for 8–10 minutes until very soft, glossy and just collapsing. You're not after colour here; brown leeks turn the finished soup grey and bitter.
2. 2Stir in the crushed garlic and cook for 30 seconds, just until fragrant; no more. Add the diced potatoes, bay leaf and dried thyme. Stir for a minute to coat everything in the buttery base.
3. 3Pour in the hot vegetable stock and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for 15–18 minutes, uncovered, until a knife slips through the potato without any resistance. Anything less and the blended soup will be grainy.
4. 4Lift out the bay leaf. Blend with a stick blender straight in the pot; or in batches in a jug blender, lid cracked open and a tea towel over the top; until completely smooth and silky. Return to a low heat.
5. 5Stir in the double cream and warm through for 2–3 minutes; don't let it boil or the cream can split. The soup should coat the back of a spoon and leave a clean line when you draw a finger through it. Taste; plenty of salt and black pepper.
6. 6Ladle into warmed bowls. Scatter the snipped chives generously over each one, drizzle with the reserved teaspoon of olive oil shared between the bowls and finish with a fresh crack of black pepper.

Per serving

kcal

358

protein

7.3g

fibre

7g

carbs

34.6g

fat

21.3g