The delight of an English country farm stall
Leek and potato soup is one of those dishes my mum used to make all the time when we lived in England. She would buy fresh organic leeks and potatoes from the farm stall down the road, and whip this up on a cold autumn or winters day.
Looking back, those lovely little farm stalls were definitely something I took for granted. Local small famers (or anyone with a veggie patch really) would set up a little stall by their gate or front door, where you could buy whatever they had on offer that day. Exact change was needed, as no-one was at the stall. You simply took your veggies and popped your payment in the honesty box next to the stall. It’s a little sad to think that something like that would never be possible in South Africa. But heartening to think that such a simple, rustic exchange of produce still happens in some places in the world.
Enjoy a rainy day with leek and potato soup
Leek and potato soup is a dish that really warms the fingers and the heart, as it is quite a thick soup, and irresistibly creamy. On a grey, chilly winter’s day, there is nothing better than a leek and potato soup.
In England it was very easy to buy celeriac. It is the knobbly bulbous stem of a variety of celery. It has a similar flavour to celery, but is stronger and has a lovely nuttiness to it. When cooked it retains more flavour than celery, and it develops a delicious sweet note. We used to add about half a celeriac bulb to our leek and potato soup. This really pumps up the flavour. In Cape Town, celeriac is not widely available and usually only around for a very short time. If you can get hold of some celeriac, then try adding some instead of celery.
Another slightly unusual ingredient which I like to add to my soup is apple. It adds a delicious fruity, slightly sweet note to the soup. Don’t add too much, as you don’t want the soup to be too sweet.
Leek and Potato Soup with Apple
Print This
Ingredients
- 4 medium or 2 large leeks, washed and roughly chopped
- 1 medium potato, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 sticks of celery, washed and roughly chopped (or 1/2 a medium celeriac bulb, peeled and chopped)
- 1 medium-large onion, peeled and roughly diced
- 50g butter (or olive oil)
- 2 apples, peeled, cored and diced
- 750ml vegetable stock, heated
- 200ml milk (or more stock)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- TO SERVE:
- A little yoghurt or sour cream
- A drizzle of truffle oil (optional)
- Chives, chopped
Instructions
- Place the butter or olive oil in a large pot, and heat gently.
- Add the leeks, potato, celery or celeriac and onion and put a lid on.
- Sweat the vegetables on a low to medium heat for about 10 minutes. Stir them occasionally to make sure that they are not sticking. You don’t want to colour them, so do not turn the heat up too high.
- Add the apples and sweat for a further 5 minutes, with the lid on.
- Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Turn down and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
- Add the milk and bring back up to the boil. As soon as it starts to froth remove the soup from the heat. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Blend the soup in a standup blender or in stages in a NutriBullet. You can also use a stick blender. At this point you can pass the soup through a sieve to ensure there are no lumps. If you don’t mind the odd small lump, this is not necessary. Taste and adjust with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Ladle the soup into serving bowls. Add a dollop of yoghurt or a drizzle of cream. Drizzle over some truffle oil. Sprinkle with some chives and grind over some freshly ground black pepper.
