Darina Allen's winter leek & potato soup

Recipe uploaded by

Good Food

28 ratings

Recipe by Good Food

Subscribe to Good Food magazine - 3 issues for £3

Tested

Leave a comment or rate this recipe

1. Video tutorial: Making soup

1. Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan. When it foams, add the potatoes, onion and leeks and toss them in the butter until they are well coated. Season well with salt and freshly ground pepper and toss again. Put a disc of greaseproof paper (called a cartouche by chefs) on top of the vegetables to keep in the steam), then cover the pan with its lid. Cook over a gentle heat for 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft but not coloured.
2. Uncover the pan and discard the paper. Pour in 850ml/11⁄2 pints of the stock, bring to the boil and simmer until the vegetables are just cooked - about 5 minutes. Do not overcook or the soup will lose its fresh flavour.
3. Purée in a blender until silky smooth, in batches if necessary, then taste and adjust the seasoning. Return the soup to a clean pan and stir in three quarters of the cream and all of the milk.
4. To finish the soup, finely shred the white leek and gently cook it in the hot butter for a few minutes until it is softened but not coloured. Reheat the soup to a gentle simmer (add some extra stock at this point if the soup is too thick for your liking), then pour into warmed bowls. Drizzle the remaining cream over each serving, top with a little pile of buttered leeks and a scattering of chives and black pepper and serve at once.

Per serving for six

252 kcalories, protein 5g, carbohydrate 18g, fat 18 g, saturated fat 11g, fibre 3g, salt 0.7 g

Latest comments and suggestions

Results 21-34

• nicola7764

  04 November 2008

  nicola7764 rated and commented on this recipe

  

  A very simple soup to make. Absolutely delicious. Perfect for a november evening.

  Flag as inappropriate

  Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  Your name: Reason:
• MrsP

  15 November 2008

  MrsP rated this recipe

  

  Flag as inappropriate

  Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  Your name: Reason:
• Hatecookinglovegoodfood

  29 November 2008

  Hatecookinglovegoodfood rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Delicious! We all loved this one!

  Flag as inappropriate

  Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  Your name: Reason:
• Julie3007

  04 January 2009

  Julie3007 rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Great taste and really easy to make. Definately will be doing this again as the children loved it.

  Flag as inappropriate

  Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  Your name: Reason:
• Lotty

  21 January 2009

  Lotty rated and commented on this recipe

  

  I've just made this soup after reading all the good reviews, and i must say i am in agreement. It tastes lovely. When i make it next time i may try without the cream and less butter, just to keep the fat content down..if its not as good i will just revert back to the original recipe. I haven't bothered with the leek topping, as I've run out of leeks. All in all a beautiful soup, just right for this cold weather! It took me a bit longer to prepare, but i wasn't rushing, plus i cooked the veg soup longer before blending as the potatoes were still a bitey!

  Flag as inappropriate

  Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  Your name: Reason:
• jackie

  02 February 2009

  jackie rated and commented on this recipe

  

  I like this because of its smoothness , i dident have any cream, so i just added some semi skimmed milk and it still tasted really really nice, will be making this again .

  Flag as inappropriate

  Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  Your name: Reason:
• Koran McAuliffe

  12 February 2009

  Koran McAuliffe commented on this recipe

  Definitely needs some nice hearty vegetable chunks in it, that's half the joy of a leek & potato soup.

  Flag as inappropriate

  Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  Your name: Reason:
• spartacusathome

  23 February 2009

  spartacusathome rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Made it for some builders and it was definitely a big hit. Although I didn't have enough white part of the leeks so used some green. Plus didn't sprinkle leeks on the top at the end. Oh and I added some worcestershire sauce. Yummy!

  Flag as inappropriate

  Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  Your name: Reason:
• Rebecca

  24 February 2009

  Rebecca rated this recipe

  

  Flag as inappropriate

  Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  Your name: Reason:
• Tracy

  12 March 2009

  Tracy rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Yum yum !! Very easy and sooooo tasty. I will never buy another tin of soup again. Made this for my son who is off school sick and he loved it (seemed to perk him up alittle too).

  Flag as inappropriate

  Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  Your name: Reason:
• Tania

  17 May 2009

  Tania rated and commented on this recipe

  

  It was YUMMY!!

  Flag as inappropriate

  Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  Your name: Reason:
• Tania

  27 May 2009

  Tania commented on this recipe

  This is a very good one! And became a classic in my house! :)

  Flag as inappropriate

  Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  Your name: Reason:
• Shnook

  28 September 2009

  Shnook rated and commented on this recipe

  

  I found this to be a lovely, warming soup. Subtle but delicious flavours and very creamy. If you prefer a chunkier soup...don't blend over blend. Season well with pepper for a kick and it's great served with rustic bread. A great supper dish.

  Flag as inappropriate

  Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  Your name: Reason:
• Anna

  20 October 2009

  Anna rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Delightful! I've tried a lot of recipes and this soup is definitely a hit! I did not overblend it, so that there still were little chunks in it. The recipe is perfect as it is; on special occasions you may want to pimp it with white wine and goat's cream cheese. It is entirely recommendable!

  Flag as inappropriate

  Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  Your name: Reason:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1731/

Your binder

• Register
• Sign in
• More info

Sign up or sign in to receive a £40 wine voucher, and to save, rate and comment on recipes. Plus, get our newsletter.

Ingredients

• 50g butter
• 450g potatoes , peeled and cut into 1cm pieces (try Golden Wonders or Kerr Pinks)
• 1 small onion , cut the same size as the potatoes
• 450g white parts of leeks , sliced (save the green tops for another soup or stock)
• 850ml-1.2litres/1.5-2pts light chicken or vegetable stock
• 142ml carton whipping cream
• 125ml full-fat milk

TO FINISH

• the white part of 1 leek
• a small knob of butter
• finely chopped chives

Search Good Food

Keywords

Refine your recipe search

Search filter options

Search by cooking times Less than 10 minutes 10-30 minutes 35-60 minutes Over an hour Search by difficulty Easy Moderately easy For the keen cook Search by cuisine American British Cajun & Creole Caribbean French German Greek Indian Italian Mediterranean Mexican Moroccan Scottish Spanish Swiss Thai Vietnamese Search by course Warm starter Cold starter Main course Side dish Pudding Search by calorie range Less than 200 200-400 400-600 600-800 Over 800 Search by occasion Midweek meal Dinner party Family favourite Birthdays Christmas New Year Mother's Day Chinese New Year Easter Search by chef Good Food Team olive Angela Nilsen Annabel Karmel Anthony Worral Thompson Gary Rhodes Gordon Ramsay James Martin John Torode Ken Hom Lesley Waters Mary Cadogan Merrilees Parker Nick Nairn Orlando Murrin Ruth Watson Silvana Franco Thane Prince Tony Tobin Search by diet Vegetarian Vegan Gluten-free Dairy-free Nut-free Egg-free Low-fat Low in salt Suitable for diabetics Search by magazine BBC Good food olive Search by servings 1 2 4 6 8 For a crowd

Difficulty and servings

Serves 6 - 8

Preparation and cooking times

Vegetarian

Veggie (if you use vegetable stock)

Ingredients

• 50g butter
• 450g potatoes , peeled and cut into 1cm pieces (try Golden Wonders or Kerr Pinks)
• 1 small onion , cut the same size as the potatoes
• 450g white parts of leeks , sliced (save the green tops for another soup or stock)
• 850ml-1.2litres/1.5-2pts light chicken or vegetable stock
• 142ml carton whipping cream
• 125ml full-fat milk

TO FINISH

• the white part of 1 leek
• a small knob of butter
• finely chopped chives

Per serving for six

252 kcalories, protein 5g, carbohydrate 18g, fat 18 g, saturated fat 11g, fibre 3g, salt 0.7 g

Your binder

Here are three other great reasons why to sign up:

• You get an online binder, where you can store all your favourite recipes and create menus.
• You can add your own recipes to this site for others to try; plus, rate and make comments on recipes, and share your views on our blog.
• You can sign up for our weekly newsletter (sent out on Wednesdays) - it's packed with recipes, special offers and competitions.

Recipes from the new TV channel and celebrity chefs. goodfoodchannel.co.uk