Foodie Friday On A Saturday - My Mam's Leek And Potato Soup

I think I've mentioned this before but food has always been very important to me and my family, and as a result so many of my childhood memories concern food. From my grandma's amazing, homemade fresh cream cake, and welsh cakes, to eating my other grans meals on wheels sponge puddings and custard and Cheshire cheese food was an important part of my childhood.

My mam and dad also made so many things over the year that have ended up as real family favourites. Delights include flapjack (see my recipe here),  melting moment cookies, sponge puddings, chocolate ladybird cake and homemade leek and potato soup.

Just thinking about this soup makes my mouth water, it's warming, creamy and absolutely delicious, this is my mam's tried and tested over many years recipe. Apologies for the lack of pictures compared to my usual recipes, my lovely mummy kept forgetting to tell me before she moved onto the next stage lol

My Mam's Leek And Potato Soup

2 Medium Leeks (About 300g)

350g Potato

50g Butter Or Margarine 

1/2 Pint Vegetable Stock

1 Pint Milk

Salt And Pepper To Taste

1. Finely chop your leeks, and rinse well. Leeks can contain a bit of grit so make sure you give them a good wash, and then drain well.

Chop your potatoes into a small dice. These were nice, clean baby potatoes, so we just washed them and  left the skin on, but you can peel them if you prefer.

2. Put you butter into a large pan (we use the base of the pressure cooker as per usual in soup making) and melt slowly over a low heat.

Then add your leeks and potatoes to the pan, them give them a stir till there all coated in the butter. Then cut a circle of greaseproof paper to the size of the fan, and lightly butter it. Then put the paper directly on top the leeks and potato, to keep the steam and the moisture in and leave on a low heat for about 15 minutes until the vegetables have softened. Keep having a little peek and a stir, if it looks as though they sticking or burning turn the ring down.

3. When the vegetables have sweated down, add your vegetable stock, and then add the milk, then turn the ring up to a simmer, don't boil it as it will cause the milk to split / curdle.

 It happened a bit here but if it does don't worry about it, it will still taste great, and the blending should even out. Simmer for about about 15 minutes till all the vegetables have softened.

4. Then it's time to blend, you don't have to but for me it's an essential. I did it in a few batches in my blender, take care if you do it this way though because it will be hot you might want to leave it to cool for a while before hand.

5. After you've blended it return it the pan and reheat. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste, this soup benefits from pepper in my opinion.

6. Voila pop into bowls and serve x This recipe made 4 large bowls x It keeps for a day or so in the fridge but because of the potato I would be a little wary about freezing it.

This recipe is amazing it taste soooo creamy and indulgent, but it only comes in at around 240 calories for a large bowlful. Personally I think this recipe is amazing as it is but you could pimp it up even more by adding cream, using chicken stock, or even adding cheese or chicken or bacon. As with all soups though you can alter the recipe pretty easily, adding what you have, and varying the amounts and flavourings. This is a real family favourite in LouLouLand, and we usually have frozen blanched leeks in the freezer all year round so we can make it even when leeks are out of season. Are you a fan of leek and potato soup leave me a comment and let me know x