Potato bacon leek soup: My first from-scratch recipe

We ended up with leeks in our CSA share last autumn. This is not a food I’d ordinarily eat, and I wasn’t entirely sure what to do with them. Beloved has long had an affection for potato leek soup, and we conveniently also had potatoes in our share, so I surfed around the internet to get some ideas. I pulled together some inspiration and what I have learned over the last couple of years from Chef Michael Smith, and created my own recipe: potato bacon leek soup.

It’s deliciously easy! This is what you need:

White potatoes (probably any kind of russet or non-baking potato would do), four or five medium ones
One leek, tip cut off and half and half green and white
Stock or broth, about two cups. You can also substitute white wine, or even water, or any combination of the above.
Four or five strips of bacon

And I forgot to add these to the first ingredient photo – they come later!
One or so cups of cream
One or more cups of frozen peas
Salt and pepper

Start with the bacon: cut it into chunks and fry it up in a heavy soup pot. (I heart my dutch oven!)

While the bacon is frying, chop the potatoes into chunks (leave the skin on) and slice the leek lengthwise to rinse between the layers. I read online you are supposed to do this, so I do. Not sure how necessary it is, but I don’t like sand in my soup. Slice the halved, rinsed leeks into 1 cm pieces.

Use a slotted spoon or tongs to remove the crisped bacon and set aside. Pour off some, or most, or none, of the fat. (Save it for frying up perogies later in the week!)

Toss the leeks into the rendered bacon fat and fry for just a few minutes, until they start to soften.

Toss the potatoes on top, stir to coat with the bacon fat and fry a bit longer. Add salt and pepper liberally.

Add liquid (stock, water, wine, whatever you have on hand) to just cover the works, sprinkle about 1/3 of the cooked bacon back in and bring the works to a steady boil. Simmer long enough for the potatoes to become very soft, at least 20 – 30 minutes. (Pro tip: if you’re late getting started, cut your potatoes into smaller chunks. They soften faster!)

I use an immersion blender to blend the soup, but I’m sure you could carefully do it in a blender or even food processor, or with a very vigourous potato masher, if you don’t mind a chunkier soup. Once it is blended to your taste (we like it thick), pour in the cream and stir well. Give it another few minutes on the heat to warm it back up and season again to taste if necessary. When you are ready to serve, pour in the frozen peas. They’ll instantly thaw AND bring your piping hot soup down to a perfectly slurpable temperature.

Scoop into serving bowls and sprinkle the reserved bacon on top.

This is the only soup that my kids actively love – most soups and stews are just tolerated. It is ridiculously easy to make, reasonably nutritious and stores well in the fridge for terrific next-day lunches. This may be a soup that we keep eating all year ’round!