Category: soup

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bacon food leeks potatoes soup

leek and potato soup

It’s June and I’m writing about leek and potato soup. Bloody June. The weather has been truly atrocious this year in England and so instead of craving salads and light meals I want soup. So I have some, and to cheer myself up gild it with all manner of little touches to try and make it my ultimate leek and potato soup. I keep the stiff green tops and simmer them in the stock, I keep the potato peelings and bake them into a crispy garnish, and use the logic that everybody knows: bacon makes everything better.

Except the weather.

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Leek and potato soup

A creamy and comforting treat.
Course Starter
Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

  • 20 g butter
  • 4 rashers streaky bacon diced
  • 2 fat leeks sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic peeled
  • 650 g floury potatoes peeled and diced (keep the peelings to one side for now)
  • 1 litre chicken stock

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C. In one saucepan get the stock to simmering point and add the green tops and the garlic while you get on with the rest. In a large casserole dish melt the butter, then fry the bacon over a medium heat until crisp and then remove. Make sure the leeks are washed and add to the pan, then pop the lid on and turn the heat down to low.
  • Meanwhile, bake the potato peelings. Toss the peelings in a little oil, salt and pepper and put on a baking tray in one layer. Pop in the oven for 10 - 15 minutes until crisp and then put aside to cool.
  • After 10 minutes the leeks should be softened so add the potato, crank up the heat and fry for a couple more minutes to warm up the potato. Fish the garlic out of the stock (it should be bobbing on top anyway) and add to the leeks and potatoes. Discard the green leek tops and add the stock to the pan. Bring to the boil then simmer for 15 minutes or until the potato is tender. Blitz a bit with a food processor until it's the texture you like (I like thick but not pureed, but hey-ho).
  • Ladle out the soup into bowls and top with the bacon and crispy potato skin.
Categories
chickpeas chorizo food soup spinach

chorizo and chickpea soup

I read this post on the Word Magazine website. It was a Jamie recipe for a really corking-sounding soup which I was surprised I hadn’t come across before. I was even more surprised to discover it was in a book I’ve owned for years, Jamie’s Dinners!

It was as gutsy as it promised – nice, meaty chorizo with hearty chickpeas. If I did it again I’d add a little less liquid to make it a bit thicker, and perhaps add a dash of paprika to amp up the chorizo flavours. I have to say I’m not convinced by the grated egg either, did nothing for me at all. That aside it’s warming and frugal* – perfect for this time of year!

*if you ignore Jamie’s addition of pata negra – PATA NEGRA! – and use boring old sandwich ham like me. His version is here.

Chorizo and chickpea soup (serves 4 – 6):

200g chorizo sausage

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

8 fresh tomatoes, deseeded and roughly chopped

1 x 410g tin chickpeas, drained

1.3 litres chicken stock

6 chunks frozen spinach

2 slices ham, shredded

1 hard-boiled egg

  1. Finely chop 150g of the chorizo and fry in a large casserole dish until the orangey oil leaks out, then add the onion. Cook gently for a five minutes then add the garlic.
  2. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas and stock and bring to the boil. Add the spinach and simmer for 30 minutes until everything is tender and adjust the seasoning.
  3. As the 30 minutes comes to the end get another frying pan very hot. Slice the remaining chorizo and fry for a couple of minutes on each side until crispy. Drain on kitchen paper while you finish the soup.
  4. Whizz the soup up a bit with a hand blender (not too much!), and stir through the ham. Serve, garnishing with egg and sliced chorizo. Make sure there’s bread to hand!
Categories
cream cheese leeks potatoes soup stock

leek and potato soup

If you’ve got some cracking ham stock knocking about from a recent joint, why not make some amazing leek and potato soup? Especially if Philadelphia give you a hand on Twitter. Stirring cream cheese through it right at the end leaves you with a creamy, tangy finish… lovely.

Adapted from Kraft’s recipe.

Leek and potato soup:

3 leeks, diced

5 maris piper potatoes, peeled and diced

2 pints ham stock (or equivalent other stock)

100g cream cheese

For the croutons:

2 thick slices of bread, cut into chunky cubes

1 tablespoon sunflower oil

Sea salt

Pinch of paprika

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  2. Heat a little oil in a large casserole pot. Drop in the leeks and cook gently for a couple of minutes, until the leeks have softened. Stir in the potatoes then add the stock. Bring up to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
  3. When the soup is about halfway, toss the bread in the oil, salt and paprika. Pop on a baking tray and roast for 10 minutes, or until the bread is crispy and golden.
  4. When the potatoes are tender, use a hand blender to pulse the soup a little. I like it roughed up a little so there’s plenty of texture remaining. Whisk in the cream cheese in chunks and check for seasoning. Serve with the croutons.
Categories
pork soup

pork steaks with toulouse sausage and bean stew

I’ve been lucky enough to have a load of Glorious! soup at my disposal at the moment. They really are delicious, I haven’t found a duffer yet.

That said, I’ve been suffering from soup overload, so I decided to use one as a sauce instead. Don’t bother with a fussy method: just fry some pork steaks, while they rest tip the sauce in the pan to warm through and thicken slightly. Perfect served with polenta.

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