Peruvian Potato Leek Soup Recipe
Delicious Purple Potato Leek Soup For Real
This potato leek soup is not really Peruvian, I just used purple potatoes someone had dug out of their garden and had on hand. However, if you do use a purple potato, you may be surprised by the color of the soup. It’s different.
If you don’t have any purple potatoes available or you can’t imagine eating purple soup, you can use any potatoes you have in your pantry. I usually prepare classic potato leek soup with Yukon golds. I like their flavor but russets, whites and yellow all work great.
Non Dairy Version
Most of the recipes I’ve seen for potato leek soup call for cream or half and half for thickening and extra flavor. This recipe doesn’t. It’s plenty thick and has tons of flavor but that’s not saying you couldn’t add a little cream if you want to give it even more richness.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
3 large leeks, cleaned and chopped. Use only the white part and a little of the pale green section.
1 small onion, chopped
3 cups of homemade chicken stock (Substitute a good quality low-salt commercial chicken stock if needed)
1 cup water
2 pounds Peruvian purple potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped (Yukon Gold & Russets work well too)
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped
Hot Chili sauce, to taste (optional)
Salt & Pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons fresh chives, cut into small pieces for garnish (optional)
How To Prepare At Home
Heat your favorite soup pot over medium-heat, add butter and once it is melted and hot, add the leeks and onion. Saute until the leeks soften and the onions become translucent, 5 - 6 minutes. You don't want either the leeks or the onion to brown.
Add the chicken stock and water to the pan and then the potatoes. Cook until the potatoes are fork tender, about 30 minutes.
To puree, you can add the soup mixture to a blender or bring a hand blender to the soup mixture. Either way, the soup is hot so be careful. I have read it is a good idea to let the hot liquids cool for 5 minutes before blending.
How much you puree the soup is up to you. Some people like it perfectly smooth while others like to leave some chunks of potato in it. It's really up to you and how you like the texture. Me, I like my potato leek soup smooth.
Add the fresh thyme and basil, a few dashes of hot chili sauce, to taste and a little salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper or even a little more hot sauce.
Serve in soup bowls with a sprinkle of chopped chives if using.
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