Potato and Leek Soup

Avid readers of this blog will notice that I have put up quite a few recipes for homemade soup. The reason for that is obvious of course, I personally happen to love soup. Although not until I started making it at home. Tinned varieties just don't seem to quite have the warming happy feeling included which is the whole point to me. The smell of Leek and Potato soup has me feeling like I am wrapped in a blanket all warm, whilst looking out the window on a cold day.

The Bloke's favourite is Potato and Leek soup, so this is the one I make the most often. The other day he mentioned his surprise that it wasn't on the blog! So here it is. My potato and leek soup.

Ingredients:

40g butter
3 large (baking) potatoes, chopped
3 large leeks, sliced
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 litre chicken stock (cube is fine)
100ml milk
100ml double cream
streaky bacon, chopped and fried (for garnish)
few chives, snipped (for garnish) 

In a large pan, melt the butter. Add the onion, leeks and potatoes and coat well with the butter. Season with pepper (I don't add salt as the garnish is bacon which is salty - but you can add some at this stage if liked). Cook for a few minutes on a medium/low heat while you make a cartouche. This is a piece of greaseproof paper which you cut to a little larger than the surface of the soup. Crush it into a ball under running water and shake off the excess. Put this on top of the vegetables (tucking in snugly) and put the lid on the pan. This helps the veg steam nicely without browning. Cook like this for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, remove the cartouche and add the stock to the pan. Cook for a further 5-10 minutes until vegetables soft. Remove the pan from the heat and using a hand blender, blend the soup. You can make it as smooth as you like, but I like to keep a few bits of leek unblended for texture. Put the pan back on the low heat and add the milk and the cream. Stir through to heat and serve in a big bowl scattered with the bacon bits and some snipped chives. Perfect with fresh crusty rolls!