I love soup and I love vichyssoise, but nobody likes cold soup in the winter. So here's a hot version from The Essentials Collection Soups. This recipes uses smoked cheese. This adds a whole new depth of richness and flavour which your guests will not expect. Read on for a few tricks to fancy up your soups for special occasions.
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 3 large leeks, trimmed and sliced
- 450g potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite-size chunks
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- salt and pepper
- 3/4 of crème fraîche or yogurt
- 100g smoked firm cheese (I use smoked gouda)
Garnish
- Fresh chive
- Crusty french bread, sliced and brushed with olive oil.
- Olive oil
- Freshly cracked black pepper
Directions
- Melt butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add leeks and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add potatoes, herbs, broth and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Remove bay leaf. Transfer half the soup to a blend or food processor and blend until smooth (I use a hand blender, it's easier). Return the blended soup to the pan with the rest of the soup.
- Stir in crème fraîche and cheese and heat gently (do not boil). Ladle into bowls.
- For the garnish, I like to broil the bread slices in the oven on both sides until golden. Then I use a sun shaped (or any other shape) cookie cutter to cut out a fancy looking crouton for the soup. Add the crouton to the soup, sprinkle with chive and freshly cracked black pepper, along with a thin drizzle of olive oil.
