Leek and Potato Soup

Several years ago I posted a recipe for Leek and Potato soup using our purple potatoes here.  Hey, a potato is a potato no matter what color they are….  There are lots of various recipes for this type of soup, not the least of which is in the cook book “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”.

This time I used mashed potatoes….from the freezer…and frozen leek slices.  Obviously you can use fresh leeks and leftover mashed potatoes from last night’s dinner but we’ve been experimenting with frozen mashed potatoes.

Frozen Mashed Potatoes and Frozen Leeks

Last spring our abundant crop of storage potatoes were starting to sprout.  Rather than have to compost them Noel suggested that we try mashing and freezing them.  We froze about 6 quarts in flattened bags so they stacked up nicely in the freezer.  It took me a while to figure out what to do with them since I’d heard that the texture after freezing wasn’t so great.  I came up with the soup idea.  Texture in soup can be disguised a bit.

Here’s what came about:

3-4 cups sliced leeks, fresh or frozen

1 onion, chopped

2 T. olive oil or part butter

6 cups veggie btoth

4 cups mashed potatoes

1 cup milk or half and half or more veggie broth

Garnish with sour cream, optional

Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté leeks and onions in oil until softened and most of the moisture has evaporated – about 10-15 minutes.   Add six cups veggie broth and simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Blend the leek broth mixture.  A stick blender works very nicely here and can be used right in the soup pan.  Then blend in the thawed mashed potatoes or thaw them in the pan as the soup simmers for a few more minutes.  Blend until it’s as creamy and smooth as you want it to be.  Add milk, half and half or more broth for taste and desired consistency.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream and herbs if you like.  Bon appetit!