This was posted over on the Forest Hills CSA website, but I figure if you haven’t seen it, it’s still valid… although it was written in November and it’s February now, so that comment about the weather BECOMING chillier… yeah, not so much. Enjoy!!!
With the weather quickly becoming chillier, what better than to make soup with your CSA goodies?
Leeks, sliced and swished through cold water a few times to dislodge any dirt that may have been stuck in them.
A couple of pounds of Russet potatoes that were then peeled and chopped into cubes.
Everything added together into a big pot of cold water, just to cover, then set over medium heat until the potatoes were fork tender. As in, I could slide a fork easily through any given cube of potato.
Once the potatoes were super tender, I turned off the flame and ran my hand blender through the whole thing until it was super creamy-smooth. Oh, and I’d been roasting five heads of garlic (they were small! and I love garlic) in the meantime, which I now peeled and added to the pot. Yum!
For serving, I scooped a bunch into a bowl and made myself a ‘toppings bar’.
From top to bottom: sour cream, crispy bacon bits, and shredded cheese (a Monterey jack and cheddar blend).
Prepping for additions!
A bit of cheese, a bit of crispy bacon…
Doesn’t it look good?
But the finishing touch, a dollop of sour cream to add richness and depth to the soup. It makes the soup feel luxurious without it being too fatty!
In it goes…
then, you
swirl! Enjoy!!!
Roasted Garlic Potato Leek Soup
adapted from Tasty Eating
Five heads of garlic, for roasting (use less if you don’t like garlic that much; mine were really, really tiny heads)
2-3 lbs. of potatoes, peeled and cubed
2-3 large leeks, sliced and cleaned
salt, pepper, to taste
Toppings (optional):
2-3 ounces of bacon, cut into small pieces and cooked super crispy (reserve bacon fat for other uses)
sour cream
shredded cheese
caramelized onions
sausage (sweet or hot), cooked & crumbled
Cut the bottoms off of the heads of garlic; place on foil. Drizzle with olive oil and loosely crumple the tin foil around the bulbs together. Roast in an oven at 400 degrees for an hour or until the cloves are super soft, slightly brown, and squishy.
Meanwhile, put the potatoes and leeks into a pot with enough cold water to cover. Simmer over medium heat for about the same amount of time, or until the potatoes are so tender that a fork easily pierces straight through it.
Remove garlic from skins – careful, they will be very hot – and add to pot before blending using hand blender. If you don’t have a hand blender, a regular blender can be used as well – work in batches and be very careful as hot liquid expands and will try to force its way out of the blender. A food mill is another option, if you have one of those. Once the entire pot is smooth (or if you’ve left some chunks because you like that texture in your soup), season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Enjoy as is, or with some toppings!
Yum, perfectly tasty and warms you to your core on a chilly night! Also, very healthy, no dairy (without the toppings), not much added fat (just the olive oil in the roasted garlic) and vegan as well!!!
Happy eating
Check out my adventure with last year’s CSA!
What do you like to make with your CSA goodies? Share in comments!
chris says
Really great move with the topping bar, that’s really cool. I’ll have to get a hold of a hand blender though. Any idea how much they cost? What’s more versatile, a hand blender or a food processor? The soup looks absolutely delicious, well done. I hope it tasted just as good =)
Hungry says
A food mill works well too.
T.C. says
Looking at that soup makes me want congee. 😛
CheeeeEEEEse says
Wow. That’s a trip down memory lane. My fraternity “Stew” used to make this every couple of weeks and it was a universally loved. Damn, now I want some. 😀