Potato-Leek Soup

For lunch, tried a bowl of potato-leek soup.  Potatoes hadn't been peeled, so the skin of the potatoes added some texture to the soup.  I could also taste a smokey bacon flavor.  I wish the soup had some chunky potato pieces for more texture as the soup was pretty well blended.

I searched for a good recipe to try making the soup at home, but found most use a lot of butter and cream.  Fortunately, I came across the following recipe to try, and it takes only 30 minutes!  Serves 4-6.

Ingredients:

• 3 large leeks, cut lengthwise, separate, clean. Use only the white and pale green parts, chop.
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarian option)
• 2 lbs potatoes, peeled, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
• Marjoram - dash
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• Tabasco sauce or other red chili sauce
• Salt & Pepper

Directions:

1 Cook leeks in butter with salt and pepper in a medium sized sauce pan. Cover pan, cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Check often. Do not brown leeks as they will acquire a burnt taste.
2 Add water, broth, and potatoes. Bring to a low simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Scoop about half of the soup mixture into a blender, puree and return to pan. Add marjoram, parsley, and thyme. Add a few dashes of chili sauce to taste. Add some freshly ground pepper, 1-2 teaspoons salt or more to taste.

If you have a better recipe for potato-leek soup, please pass along.

SoupMom