Julia Child’s Potato & Leek Soup

By CheeseDiva

Ingredients

• Neutral oil (such as grape-seed or canola oil): 2 tablespoons
• Medium Russet Potatoes: 4 to 5 or 1 pound (Peel the potatoes and roughly chop them!)
• Vegetable Stock: 6 cups (You can also use light chicken stock)
• Kosher Salt: to taste
• Leeks: 3 or one pound (large, cleaned and thinly sliced)
• Heavy Cream: 1/2 cup
• Lemon Juice: 1 to 2 tablespoons (freshly squeezed)
• Parsley or chives: 1/3 cup (minced)
• Crème fraiche: 1/2 cup

Details

Servings 6
Adapted from juliachildsrecipes.com

Preparation

Step 1

Take a large Dutch oven or stockpot and put oil into it. Heat the oil over medium heat. Add potato and leek to the oil and cook for about 8 to 12 minutes until the vegetables start to soften and turn slightly brown. Don’t forget to stir occasionally. The cooking time varies depending entirely on the surface area of your pot’s bottom.

Next, you will have to add the vegetable/chicken stock to the vegetables. Bring it to a full boil and let it simmer for about 30 to 40 minutes. Again, the time might vary. Let the mixture boil until the vegetables are tender.

Blend the soup until it is smooth. You can use immersion blender for this purpose. Or, it can be done by transferring the soup to a blender and blending it in batches. After blending, add the cream to the soup and season it to taste with salt. It is recommended to start with a single teaspoon and go from there, tasting regularly. Add some lemon juice and mix it well. Ladle the soup into bowls and decorate it with crème fraiche and minced parsley.

You can make about 6 servings following this exact recipe.

In order to make your soup more delicately flavored, you can use water instead of vegetable stock.