On Wednesdays and Saturdays on the NE corner of 57^{th<\/sup> St. and 9^{th<\/sup> Ave., there\u2019s a little greenmarket that features fresh produce and delicious-looking baked goods. After brunch one Saturday we decided to take a quick look at what vegetables they had and walked away with a huge bunch of gorgeous leeks and some freshly picked corn on the cob.<\/p>\n}}

$\"Gorgeous$

Gorgeous fresh leeks<\/p><\/div>\n

What to do with a big pile of leeks? Make potato leek soup, of course. The recipe for this just doesn\u2019t get any easier. Basically I just use one small\/medium potato per leek. If I only have large potatoes on hand, I\u2019ll use two potatoes for every three leeks. But honestly, it really doesn\u2019t matter. If you like a stronger leek flavor, use more leeks. If you prefer a heavier potato flavor, use more potato. Either way it\u2019s really hard to mess up this soup.<\/p>\n

Cut off the roots and the dark green parts of the leeks, then cut it in half lengthwise. Chop the leek into about half inch pieces (doesn\u2019t have to be perfect or even), and rinse thoroughly. I make sure all the pieces are separated as dirt can get trapped between the leaves. I usually do this in the basket of my salad spinner, then spin it dry afterward. Also peel the potatoes and chop into about 1 inch chunks.<\/p>\n

$\"Chopped$

Chopped leeks soaking in the salad spinner<\/p><\/div>\n

Put two tablespoons of butter or olive oil, or one tablespoon of each, it doesn\u2019t matter, in a soup pot (I always use my dutch oven) and heat on medium high. When it gets hot and starts to shimmer, add in the leeks and saut\u00e9 for several minutes until the leeks are soft. Then add the potatoes and pour in one quart of chicken stock. I use low sodium because I prefer to season the soup myself. If you think there isn\u2019t enough stock to cover everything, just add some water. Cook everything in the pot, covered, until the potatoes are soft and starting to fall apart, about 30 minutes.<\/p>\n

$\"Boiling$

Boiling the potatoes and sauteed leeks in chicken stock<\/p><\/div>\n

I use an immersion blender to puree the soup. Make sure the blender is completely submerged before turning it on, otherwise you can really hurt yourself with the splatter. If you don\u2019t have an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender and puree it in batches, but please be sure to read up on the proper technique of blending hot liquids as you can really burn yourself if you don\u2019t do it correctly.<\/p>\n

$\"Blending$

Blending the soup with the immersion blender<\/p><\/div>\n

After the soup is completely blended (I prefer my soup smooth, though you can leave it a bit chunky if that\u2019s how you prefer it), you can add some heavy cream for some richness. A half a cup is fine, or you can use none if you want to keep it light. Season with salt and pepper to taste.<\/p>\n

To serve, simply ladle the soup into a bowl and top with a garnish of parsley or chives. I had some leftover watercress that was about to turn so I just chucked a handful on top. Delicious! The watercress was crispy and a little bitter, which complemented the smooth richness of the soup perfectly.<\/p>\n

$\"Creamy$

Creamy soup topped with crunchy watercress<\/p><\/div>\n

This soup really couldn\u2019t be simpler to make and is a quick and filling meal on its own, or it can be dolled up to make an elegant starter to any dinner party.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Wednesdays and Saturdays on the NE corner of 57th St. and 9th Ave., there\u2019s a little greenmarket that features fresh produce and delicious-looking baked goods. After brunch one Saturday we decided to take a quick look at what vegetables they had and walked away with a huge bunch of gorgeous leeks and some freshly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[137,136],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.twofatbellies.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1622"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.twofatbellies.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.twofatbellies.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.twofatbellies.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.twofatbellies.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1622"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.twofatbellies.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1622\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1630,"href":"https:\/\/www.twofatbellies.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1622\/revisions\/1630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.twofatbellies.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.twofatbellies.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.twofatbellies.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}