Description
Julia Child’s potato leek soup embodies classic French cooking with simple, hearty ingredients. Creamy comfort emerges from blended potatoes and delicate leeks, inviting you to savor each comforting spoonful.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 pounds (907 g) Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
- 4 large leeks, white and light green parts only, roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 7 cups (1.65 L) chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 tbsps (45 ml) unsalted butter
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- Chives, finely chopped, for serving
Instructions
- Butter Infusion: Melt butter in a large pot over medium-low heat, creating a gentle base for the aromatic foundation of the soup.
- Vegetable Sauté: Add leeks and garlic to the melted butter, stirring continuously until they become translucent and release their delicate fragrance, approximately 10 minutes.
- Liquid and Seasoning Integration: Pour in broth, introduce potatoes, bay leaves, thyme, salt, and pepper. Bring to a robust boil, then immediately reduce to a gentle simmer, covering the pot to allow ingredients to marry and potatoes to tenderize for 15-18 minutes.
- Herb and Texture Refinement: Extract bay leaves and thyme sprigs to prevent woody undertones. Utilize an immersion blender or carefully transfer to a standard blender, puréeing until achieving a velvety, uniform consistency.
- Cream Completion: Fold in heavy cream, returning the soup to a light simmer. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, modifying consistency by adding broth if too thick or continuing to simmer if too thin.
Notes
- Butter Browning Prevention: Use medium-low heat to melt butter gently, avoiding scorching and preserving delicate flavor profile.
- Vegetable Sautéing Technique: Stir leeks and garlic consistently during 8-12 minute cooking process to ensure even translucency and maximum flavor development.
- Blending Safety Tip: When using standard blender, process soup in small batches and remove center lid piece to prevent pressure buildup and potential hot liquid explosion.
- Consistency Control: Adjust soup thickness by adding broth if too thick or continuing simmering if too thin, ensuring perfect texture and concentrated flavor intensity.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Dinner, Appetizer
- Method: Sautéing, Simmering, Blending
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 5
- Calories: 348
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 680 mg
- Fat: 25 g
- Saturated Fat: 15 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 8 g
- Trans Fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 32 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Cholesterol: 82 mg