Creamy Potato & Wild Leek Soup
Classic potato leek soup pulls all the comfort stops. It’s creamy, buttery, and classic cold weather-cooking all folded into one soup! I used wild ramps (they were available in May, but you can just use some extra leeks).
INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons unsalted butter (vegan cashew butter)
4 large leeks, white and light green parts only, roughly chopped (about 5 cups)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped into 1/2-inch pieces (9 potatoes)
1 small white onion (diced)
10 ramp leaves (chopped)
7 cups low sodium vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup heavy cream
Chives, finely chopped, for serving
INSTRUCTIONS
Melt the butter over medium heat in a large soup pot. Add the leeks and onion and cook, stirring regularly, until soft and and then add garlic a few minutes later... wilted till about 10 minutes. Adjust the heat as necessary so as not to brown.
Add the potatoes, broth, bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper to pot and bring to a boil. Cover and turn the heat down to low. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are very soft.
Fish out the thyme sprig and bay leaves, then purée the soup with a hand-held immersion blender until smooth. (Alternatively, use a standard blender to purée the soup in batches; see note.) Add the heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. If soup is too thin, simmer until thickened. If it's too thick, add water or stock to thin it out. Garnish with fresh herbs if desired.