Potato Leek Soup - Blog Posts

UPDATE:

Since making this post, I have some new tips and tricks for you guys!

If you’re substituting the bacon for smoked turkey like I did, don’t throw out the bone right away! While the potatoes and veggies simmer, add the smoked turkey leg bone to the broth. Don’t worry about any meat bits that fall in, they’ll get incorporated in the blender. Not only will this provide more flavour to the broth but you’ll get extra nutrients from the bone marrow! NOTE: Do your best to keep the bone as intact as possible as you’ll need to pull all the bone bits out before blending.

To reduce the fat content and make it an appetizer-soup, I substituted milk instead of cream and it worked out great! The only adjustment needed was to let it thicken for 6-7 minutes instead of 1 minute. 

Potato Leek Soup (w/ Smoked Turkey)

Served year round, this dense and nutritious vegetable blend is perfect for warming the limbs and souls of dwarves subjugated to the unrelenting cold of damp subterranean life. - Heroes’ Feast, p.97

There’s something very comforting about a rich, creamy soup on an overcast day. Whether rain or snow, its warmth gives you a sense of homely comfort and raises your spirits.

I’d never tried potato and leek soup before attempting this recipe and was skeptical at first; how good could some leeks and potatoes be? However, I was blown away by taste! Delicious and filling, this Potato Leek Soup is sure to satisfy your hunger while giving you those reading-a-good-book-on-a-rainy-day vibes. Make sure to dip a thick slice of sourdough bread from your nearest bakery in it for an even more knock-your-socks-off taste!

As an added bonus, this soup is easily made vegetarian! See the results sections to find out how.

See below for my notes on the results and for some helpful tips and tricks when making this yourself! Get Hero’s Feast here: https://dnd.wizards.com/heroes-feast

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Potato Leek Soup (w/ Smoked Turkey)

Served year round, this dense and nutritious vegetable blend is perfect for warming the limbs and souls of dwarves subjugated to the unrelenting cold of damp subterranean life. - Heroes’ Feast, p.97

There’s something very comforting about a rich, creamy soup on an overcast day. Whether rain or snow, its warmth gives you a sense of homely comfort and raises your spirits.

I’d never tried potato and leek soup before attempting this recipe and was skeptical at first; how good could some leeks and potatoes be? However, I was blown away by taste! Delicious and filling, this Potato Leek Soup is sure to satisfy your hunger while giving you those reading-a-good-book-on-a-rainy-day vibes. Make sure to dip a thick slice of sourdough bread from your nearest bakery in it for an even more knock-your-socks-off taste!

As an added bonus, this soup is easily made vegetarian! See the results sections to find out how.

See below for my notes on the results and for some helpful tips and tricks when making this yourself! Get Heroes’ Feast here: https://dnd.wizards.com/heroes-feast

Prep Time: ~30 mins            Cook Time: ~1h 30 mins            Overall: ~2 hrs

For the ingredients:

2 slices thick-cut bacon*

3 leeks, white and green parts, thinly sliced

3 celery stalks, chopped

2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves

2 lb. russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 cup heavy cream**

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

* I substituted the bacon for smoked turkey.

** I substituted the 35% heavy cream for 18% table cream.

I use the following conversions in my cooking:

1 lb. russet potatoes = 500 g

4 cups chicken broth = 900 ml chicken broth + 50 ml water

1 cup heavy cream = 240 ml

NOTE: Be careful if using dried thyme instead of fresh thyme since dried spices have a much more concentrated flavour. Use one-third of the amount of fresh thyme called for in the recipe if substituting for dried.

TIP: 4 cups of chicken broth is ~950 ml (~33 fl oz.) and a carton of chicken broth contains ~900 ml (~30 fl oz.). Don’t bother buying another carton of chicken broth for the extra 50 ml (~2 fl oz.)! Use up one carton and make up the difference with water.

I didn’t use bacon for this recipe, but still wanted to infuse the broth with the flavour. Luckily, smoked turkey has an extremely similar taste and texture to ham! Just be sure to use extra smoked turkey because it doesn’t release as much fat - which is needed for the flavour.

Above is what the smoked turkey looked like after cooking for 15 minutes (flipping halfway through). It won’t get as crispy as the bacon, but it will still have all of those awesome flavours.

NOTE: Like turkey bacon, smoked turkey doesn’t have enough fat to fry itself. Make sure to add a little bit of neutral-tasting oil to the saucepan, like vegetable, canola, safflower or grapeseed oil, to fry it.

The fried smoked turkey will not crumble like the bacon would. To sprinkle it onto the soup, I diced it into small cubes.

Above is what the vegetables looked like before and after they softened. This will take ~5 mins and they will take up around half of their original volume in the saucepan.

Above is what the soup looked like after cooking. Letting the potatoes simmer on low heat to soften will take forever. Instead, bring the soup to a boil on high heat then turn it back down to medium to simmer. 

It will take about 10 minutes to bring the soup to a boil and it will need to cook on medium for 30 minutes in order for the potatoes to soften enough to blend.

Above is what the soup looked like after blending. I used a magic bullet since I don’t have a proper blender. It took 7 batches filled slightly less than halfway to get through all of it.

Be careful when using a magic bullet to blend the soup - it will be extremely hot! Use a kitchen towel to hold the magic bullet when opening it to avoid burning yourself.

Also, you will need to rinse off the blade attachment each time you blend a batch of soup. The extra soup will prevent a proper seal from forming.

Above is what the soup looked like after I added the cream. I found that 5 minutes was plenty of time for it to thicken.

Overall, I would give this recipe a 5/5 - my grandmother even asked me to teach her how to make it! It has easily put itself on the rotation of dinner meals.

Also, don’t get discouraged by the time it takes to make! Most of the cooking time is hands-off and the prep time can easily be halved if you have someone helping you.

VEGETARIAN: Forego the bacon and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. The taste will be more vegetable-heavy but it doesn’t take away from the tastiness of the soup.