Recipe Repost: Yummy Leek, Potato & Fennel Soup.

In honor of Mrs. White’s Christian Home blogzine, and because I just made this soup this weekend for church,  I’m going to share again this soup that I originally titled “Soup Experiment”

This soup is hearty, filling, satisfying and perfect to serve to guests.  My family loves the soup and from the empty pot on Friday night, my church friends appeared to enjoy it as well.

The soup is gluten free, dairy free and soy free.  I have struggled with what to serve my beloved friends with food restrictions.  It isn’t easy to think of menus when I don’t live with those allergies or sensitivities but I do not want that to stop me from practicing the art of hospitality. (I have enough other excuses that I must work through!)

I did make one change from my original recipe.  Instead of using Oregon Spice Vegetable Broth Powder and water I used homemade veggie broth and then added enough water to cover potatoes.  I had veggies that needed to be used up or thrown away and were past the “serve crisp with a dip” stage!

Here is my original recipe but with notes:

What You Need:

• 10 potatoes, peeled and chunked
• 6 carrots, peeled and chopped *
• 4  celery ribs (sticks.. not 4 whole stalks LOL) chopped *
• 6 leeks, sliced
• 1 small fennel bulb (also called anise)
• water to cover potatoes. plus a little more maybe… I think maybe 8 cups?
• vegetable broth powder (I just dumped… a couple of tablespoons or so?)  (NOTE: You can use homemade or boxed vegetable broth)
• salt and pepper to taste (I used some Johnny’s Seasoned Salt and some Sea Salt.. I served fresh ground pepper at the table to taste)

* I used my Slap Chopper to “dice” up the carrots and celery as I wanted smaller pieces than my usual soup slices. 

I sauted (I don’t know how to manipulate my keyboard to make that look right!) the veggies except the potatoes in some oil in the big soup pot until the veggies were limp.  I removed them from the pot and added the potatoes, veggie broth powder and Seasoned Salt.  I added enough water to cover the potatoes by about 1 1/2 to 2 inches.  For a thicker soup, I’d use water to just barely cover the potatoes.  You can always add more if you need it. I brought the potatoes to a boil and then turned it down to less than a boil but slightly more than simmer (I told you I am not precise LOL… I cook by feel, smell, taste and sometimes touch!)

When the potatoes were just starting to think about becoming soft (the point where you could poke a fork in them but they were still too hard), I added the other veggies and simmered until they were all nice and tender.  Be careful with potatoes.  Though for my more traditional potato soup I cook them until they are falling apart, I want these chunks for this soup to hold their shape.

I put several cups (3 maybe?) of soup into my Vitamix and blended it all up to make the “creamy” part of the soup.  Stirred that into the soup and added salt to taste.   It wasn’t quite as thick as I wanted but it had a creaminess that was quite filling and satisfying.

NOTES:

• This recipe can be doubled.
• If the leeks are smaller use 6 for a single batch.  You can use LESS leeks if they are really big!  I used 6 leeks in my doubled batch but they were much larger than leeks I’ve used before
• I wanted the soup to be soy free and I did not have canola or safflower oil on hand so I just sauted the veggies in vegetable broth.
• I did not double the fennel bulb when I doubled the recipe and I wish I had so if I make a double batch in the future I *will* be adding in more fennel.  I missed it Friday night.
• I am not one who likes to serve soup to company but this is one soup that I think would make a great meal for company and I would  consider bringing this soup to a sick friend or a family with a new baby.
• The recipe portions above make close to 6qts.

This post has been submitted to the Christian Home Blog Magazine hosted by The Legacy of Home.  It appears in  Issue 9.    This recipe has also been linked to Tasty Tuesday hosted by a glimpse of our life.