Winter Comfort-Potage Parmentier (Potato Leek Soup)

The Beauty Of Simple Leeks And Potatoes

Have you made Potato Leek soup before? The ultimate in simple elegance, I recently became reacquainted with this gem of a recipe.

During the dark of winter, I joined a photography challenge to try and get my creative juices flowing. For our first challenge we were given onions and leeks. Right away I got kind of excited, I love being given an ingredient to focus on and leeks and onions are the perfect winter vegetable. It’s the dead of winter and there’s not much growing which can be tough since my blog centers around my little kitchen garden. Leeks and potatoes to the rescue!

Soup Inspiration From Julia Child Herself

Since this was a photography challenge and not a recipe challenge I thought I’d go super simple and do a classic, French recipe-potato leek soup. I dug out one of my Julia Child cookbooks and got to work.

Leeks And Butter Oh My!

Almost immediately my mouth started watering as I sauteed the leeks in a little butter. Then I added the potatoes, water (yep, water not stock!) salt and pepper. That was it and yet as the vegetables softened and melted together it turned into so much more than the sum of it’s parts-creamy, savoury, luxurious, comforting and something I would be proud to serve at any dinner party.

Keep Life (And Recipes) Simple

I didn’t set out to blog this recipe but once I was done, I felt I had to. This soup felt like the perfect reminder to keep life simple, to use what we have in season and savour the ingredients. In the words of Julia,

“An excellent lunch or light supper need be no more that a good soup, a salad, cheese and fruit. “

Julia Child

While I keep all my recipes simple and let the ingredients do the heavy lifting, I have a few other recipes just like this soup. Vegan Italian White Beans are a similar recipe in that they just have to simmer. If you have the time, you can be eating well (and like a true Italian) for pennies. For more vegetarian soups, try my Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Hazelnuts or my veggie loaded (GF) Broccoli Cheese Soup recipes.

Get Creative And Add Your Own Twist To Potage Parmentier

Try this soup as is and have fun making it again and using it as a jumping off point for your creativity. A little bacon or ham, some watercress, carrot, turnip or whatever else you can dream up. I garnished mine with various herbs, greens and some rosemary flowers found in my garden for some texture variation.

Serve This Soup Hot OR Cold

You can serve this potato leek soup cold with the addition of cream and voila! You have a traditional vichyssoise, perfect for a light summer lunch. Versatile recipe, right?!

The Ultimate Simple Soup Recipe

The original recipe is simply equal parts leeks and potatoes, water and salt and simmered so feel free to be completely hands off if you wish. I enjoy the process of cooking and the fun of building flavours so I sauteed my leeks gently in a small bit of butter first and used a bay leaf from my garden. Many people choose to use stock, garlic, other herbs etc but I purposely chose to keep this simple in the spirit of Julia Child’s recipe to enjoy the beauty, simplicity and pure flavour of the leeks. I urge you to try it first this way to see how amazing a few simple ingredients really can be.

Don’t Use A Hand Blender

The first batch I used my hand blender but realized Julia was right (uh, the potatoes will get gluey if blended, I should have known). Use a potato masher or simply simmer until it becomes creamy from stirring at the end which is what I did the second time round and it works perfectly.

A Simple, Easy And Comforting Soup

I hope you find this soup a comforting reminder that sometimes all we need are the most basic of ingredients and a moment of peace in front of a warm stove.

Bon appetit my friends!

PS. Anyone else love Julia??? So inspiring and I love her sense of humor. Comment below if you have a favourite recipe or TV episode! And if you’d like to learn more about Julia Child, check out “The Julia Child Foundation” to learn about her and the initiatives dedicated to supporting the culinary arts.

I’d love you to follow along on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook or sign up for the emails in the side bar.

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Potato Leek Soup-Potage Parmentier

Potato leek soup is a French classic for a reason.  This simple soup is so much more than the sum of it’s parts.  Warm and comforting, delicious and fragrant, made creamy from the potatoes it is also healthy and very easy to make.  Naturally vegetarian and gluten-free, this soup can be easily made vegan and dairy-free with the substitution of olive oil for butter or simply omitting the oil all together. 

Ensure you have cleaned your leeks well by cutting them in half lengthwise and then rinsing between the layers well to catch any hidden dirt.  

Course Main, Soup, Vegetable

Cuisine canadian, French

Keyword Leek, Potato, Soup, Traditional French Soup, Vegan, Vegetarian

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings 4

Author Sabrina Currie

Ingredients

• 3 Large Leeks, Cleaned And Sliced Thinly
• 3 Russet Potatoes, Peeled And Diced 1/2″
• 4 c Water
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1 tbsp Butter Or olive oil to keep it vegan
• Salt And Pepper To Taste

Instructions

• In a medium heavy bottomed pot, heat butter or olive oil on medium-low until melted and then add leeks.  Saute gently until translucent but not browned. 
  
• Add potatoes, water and bay leaf and simmer, stirring occasionally, approximately 30-40 minutes or until potatoes are soft enough to mash easily. 

  *If you choose to simmer this longer, you may need to add a bit of water to desired consistency.

  *Do not mash potatoes until they are all cooked as the soup will burn easily once it is creamy.
  
• With potato masher, ricer or the back of your large spoon, mash the soup until it is creamy and fairly smooth.  This should be fast and easy once the potatoes are cooked properly. 

  Season to taste with salt and pepper. ( I used 2 tsp salt) 

  Serve in bowls and garnish as desired with chopped chives, parsley or other fine herbs from the garden or a swirl of cream.