Irish Potato and Leek Soup

23 February 2018

easy

2-2.5 liter

We’ve had another really cold spell these last few weeks here in Tipperary, with snow and ice on a few of them and today is yet another very cold day so I thought it was the perfect chance for me to share this Irish potato & leek soup recipe with you all to keep you warm throughout the weekend. As you may have seen I’ve been making a lot of soup recipes in the past, but I really wanted to make something typically Irish so I asked my partner for some suggestions and he straight away said: potato and leek soup!

When it comes to the Irish and potatoes I think it’s a stereotype that’s not very true anymore, a lot of restaurants nowadays have very varied menus and it’s not just potatoes with everything at all. If I had to put a stereotype on Irish cuisine I wouldn’t say potatoes at all but I’d go for fresh fish and meat as the quality of the food here is just so good and most restaurants work directly with local producers to get the freshest ingredients straight from their farms or from the sea. A very popular spot to get fresh fish here in the South would be Kinsale and a lot of restaurants will be going up there in the morning to select fresh fish and then bring them back to the restaurant to cook in the evening. Apart from fish a hugely important meat would be steak of course. There is no denying that Irish steak is just fantastic! That being said, this recipe is some traditional Irish comfort food and as old as it may be, it’s still a favourite amongst the people for sure.

I hadn’t eaten this soup before so I wasn’t sure how to make it but it turned out to be such an easy recipe and it really was very tasty! You can easily freeze the soup as well, but keep in mind that you should not add cream to it if you plan on freezing the soup. Rather make the soup without cream, freeze it and add cream when you defrost the soup and reheat it. Cream and freezers don’t go well together!

Have you got any favourite soups you would like me to create a recipe for? Let me know in the comments below and I’ll try them out!

Reviews

Ingredients:

Adjust Servings

	600g baby potatoes
	2 leeks
	2 onions
	2 vegetable stock cubes
	2l water
	3 bay leaves
	few twigs fresh thyme
	pepper & salt

Optional

	fresh double cream
	brown soda bread to serve

Directions

1.

Remove the darker leaves and the bottom of the leeks.

Slice up in rough chunks but wash thoroughly. Leeks tend to have a lot of sand in them which you don't want to end up with in your soup.

Peel the potatoes and chop them in half. Roughly chop the onions as well.

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2.

Heat up a knob of butter in a deep pot and add onions.

Cook for a few minutes, then add leeks and potatoes. Add the water along with stock cubes, fresh thyme, bay leaves and a pinch of pepper and salt.

Bring to a boil then reduce the heat a bit and let the soup simmer for about 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are soft. Remove the bay leaves and thyme.

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3.

Blend the soup

Season with pepper and salt if needed and serve with some cream (unless you plan on freezing the soup!) and some traditional Irish soda bread with butter.

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