Potato Leek Soup
If you know me and my husband, you know that we live for soup season. & it’s finally that time of year when my fingers get numb going from my car to the house, so it’s officially chilly enough to start using the fireplace, dust off the Le Creuset & christen soup season 2019. My perfect soup - something creamy & cheesy & salty & appropriate with loads of hot sauce. This Potato Leek Soup is reminiscent of Panera’s Potato Cheese Soup, & it’s pretty f*cking great. Smooth & creamy, but with lots of herbs + cheese + prosciutto right on top to make it an adult’s potato cheese soup opposed to a college kid’s comfort food (cheesy soup from Panera was a staple of my college diet).
Frankly, it just felt nice to be back in the kitchen. Our taproom is finally open, which is something I’m super happy about, but it’s thrown off our routine. Particularly, finding time to be in the kitchen has been a little tough. There have been a lot of meals out & overnight oats & chips. So many chips I could die. Finally we have a freeeeeee Sunday, & the normalcy of a cozy night in with dinner & movie all from the comfort of my couch is just what I’ve been craving. & we had friends in town, so staying up until 2am the day prior also means a cozy dinner in is about all I had the strength for. Nonetheless, getting back on track with some homemade meals and carving out some time to chef it up home-cook style was truly needed.
This soup is truly reminiscent of a classic cheesy-potato soup, except it has copious amounts of leeks + herbs + fancy meats (aka - prosciutto). The leeks feel like an adult vegetable. I mean what child knows what a leek is? Pretty sure I wasn’t made aware of their existence until I was old enough to start helping prep Thanksgiving dinner. & they’re great! So I love incorporating them into meals on the reg opposed to the annual Thanksgiving feast. The organic ones are HUGE, and they just look so pretty in a weird farmer kind of way. More importantly - they bring a slight onion flavor that tastes real good in a creamy potato soup.
They soften up and cook down dust like onions do, so the pan will be pretty full when you add the leeks in. Big picture - they cook down with ease so you can add the broth and potatoes with ease and not have the pot totally overflow.
But the garnishes - that’s the ticket. I go really heavy handed with herbs because they really do bring a fresh flavor, & in the soup a little kick of freshness goes a long way. Plus, little bits of fresh herbs looks so nice in a monochromatic soup. I go with thyme & chives since those are my favorites, and both a mixed into the soup & some leftover chives are saved to sprinkle right on top.
The perfectly crisp prosciutto bits are a little crunchy + a lot salty, and a bite of prosciutto with each spoonful of the creamy soup is just real good. We make crispy prosciutto so much in place of bacon because it’s so good & cooks with NO MESS. Literally - no f*cking mess, and that is the real pain in the butt when it comes to bacon. The prosciutto sprinkled on top gives you that same flavor and salty bite that you get when you put chopped bacon on top of a creamy soup, which is what is more typical, and it feels a little bit fancier.
Let’s be clear - this soup is so good on its own, but it’s essentially not a comfort food meal in our house unless hot sauce is involved. Jordan is obsessed with spicy, and I dabble. We recently added Da Bomb hot sauce from the show Hot Ones to our collection. He added a drop of that to his soup for a little extra kick, and I was pretty liberal with the Sriracha. Even with using a generous amount of Sriracha & Jordan just using literally only a couple drops of his new hot sauce gem, his soup was way more spicy than mine. So that shit is no joke, and mental note for me to stay away. Regardless, a night in with warm bowls of soup on the couch with the first scary movie of our Halloween countdown was the perfect unwind from what has been a very busy two weeks. & though our meals at home have become a little more scarce, I really appreciated this one, and it was a happy reminder that home is our happy place, and the comfort of home-cooking has the power to make everything right in the world.
For the Soup
1/4 c. + 1 tbsp EVOO
6 large leeks (usually organic leeks are a bit larger), halved and then thinly sliced
2 tbsp flour
10 c. chicken broth
5 Yukon gold potatoes
2 tsp minced thyme
1/2 c. half & half
2 tbsp thinly sliced chives + a little extra for garnish
Sliced prosciutto (at least one slice per serving)
Shredded cheddar cheese
Salt & pepper
Place large pot over medium heat. Add in the oil & the sliced leeks. Toss the leeks to get them coated in the oil. Let them cook for 12-15 minutes, stirring every 3 minutes. Add in the flour, stirring until you get a paste like consistency in the pot. Add in the broth, potatoes, thyme, and large pinch of salt and pepper, and increase the heat to high to bring the whole thing to a boil. Let it boil for 15 minutes.
Remove the soup from the heat, and use an immersion blender to get a silky smooth consistency. Be generous with the blender - let it go for at least 5 minutes to get it super smooth and not grainy.
Place the soup back over low heat. Stir in the cream & chives. Give it a taste, adding in a bit more salt and pepper if needed. Cover, and leave over low heat as you make your crispy prosciutto.
Preheat the oven to 350. Lay sliced prosciutto on a piece of parchment. Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until the prosciutto is shriveled up and has taken on a much darker color. Remove from the oven and let them cool.
Serve your soup with a pinch of chives & shredded cheddar, and some sprinkling of crispy prosciutto bits. & lots of Sriracha.