Roasted Potato Leek and Garlic Soup

Potato leek soup is good any time of year.

When Frank kept bringing home potatoes and leeks from our CSA, I knew he was serious about me making a batch.

Since it’s fall, I like this version, where the leeks and potatoes are roasted with some garlic, making it heartier than traditional vichyssoise. Serves about 6:

Roasted Potato Leek and Garlic Soup

• 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4″ chunks
• 3 leeks, white and light green parts, cleaned, cut in half lengthwise and then in ½” slices
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup dry white wine, plus extra for serving
• 6 to 7 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces crème fraîche
• 1-2 heads roasted garlic (see below)

Preheat the oven to 400°.

Combine the potatoes and leeks on a sheet pan in a single layer. Add the olive oil, salt, and pepper, and toss to coat. Roast for 40 to 45 minutes, turning them with a spatula a few times, until very tender and lightly golden.

Remove the pan from the oven and place over 2 burners. Stir in the wine and 1 cup of chicken stock and cook over low heat, scraping up any roasted bits sticking to the pan.

In batches, transfer the roasted vegetables and garlic to a food processor or blender, adding the pan liquid and about 5 cups of the chicken stock in batches and purée. As you finish a batch, pour it into a large pot or Dutch oven. When it’s all in the pot, add the remaining 1- 2 cups of stock to make a thick soup. Add the cream, crème fraîche, and salt and pepper as needed. Heat over medium-low heat until heated through. Serve and enjoy!

My verdict:

I’ve never made vichyssoise with crème fraîche before and if there wasn’t some in the fridge, I probably wouldn’t have used it this time either–which would have been a big mistake! It gave this very rich soup a nice depth of flavor that’s sometimes missing. Roasting the potatoes and leeks was a great idea and the next time I do it, I’d just toss some garlic cloves in the mix. If you were doing this in the summer and didn’t want to heat up your oven, grilling them would most likely be great! If you like a finer purée, use a blender, for a chunkier version the food processor is fine.

In preparation for this I roasted 4 heads of garlic separately (cut 1/2″ off the tops, put in an oven-proof dish, sprinkle a little olive oil, cover with foil and roast at 400 degrees for an hour), not knowing how many I’d need (about 1 1/2 heads) to flavor but not overwhelm the leeks. Frank was wondering about adding bacon which would be fine, but not necessary — maybe as a garnish? This is great hot or cold, so depending on the season…