Leeks softened in butter, simmered with Yukon Gold potatoes and blended into a pale, smooth soup. The everyday French potage, made with Canadian leeks and a carton of no-salt-added broth, and the base of cold vichyssoise.
I blend this soup completely smooth, until it's like velvet in the bowl. That's personal preference, though: plenty of French cooks leave it rustic, with soft bits of potato and leek, and both are right. Do whatever your family likes to eat.
What I noticed making it here is that Yukon Gold does the job of the floury French potatoes very well, and blends even creamier. The leeks take more care: they're often sold with long dark tops you won't use, so I look at the length of the white before anything else.
Leeks, potatoes, butter and stock: that's the whole shopping list for the soup French cooks call a potage. Blend it for a weeknight bowl, or chill it, add cream, and it becomes vichyssoise. I'd keep it plain, with no garlic or herbs in the pot: the leeks carry it.
Canadian leeks: more green, more grit
Leeks here often come with long dark tops, and a good part of what you pay for never goes in the pot. Use only the white and pale-green parts: the dark leaves are tough and turn the soup grey-green. Buy by the length of the white, not the number of leeks.
Soil also hides between the layers, and one gritty spoonful ruins the whole pot. That's why the leeks get split before they're rinsed.
Smooth or rustic?
The traditional French tool is the moulin à légumes, a hand-cranked food mill, which leaves the soup slightly rough. An immersion blender gives the silky soup I like, and it's what most kitchens here have. Either way, the finished potage should be pale ivory and pour like heavy cream.
Making it in Canada
The 3 French ingredients, and what to buy for them in Canada.
Pommes de terre farineuses (Bintje)→Yukon Gold potatoes
French recipes often call for a floury potato such as Bintje. Yukon Gold is the closest here: medium starch, so it blends creamy and keeps the soup pale. Russets work but make a thicker, slightly grainy soup, and red waxy potatoes turn gluey when blended.
🛒 Sold by name in the produce section. 600 g is about 3 medium potatoes.
Bouillon de volaille (cube)→No-salt-added chicken broth, 900 mL carton
French cooks often use a cube and water. A no-salt-added carton has about 60 mg of sodium per 250 mL, so you salt the soup yourself, which matters most if you serve it cold. A '30% less sodium' carton still has about 630 mg per 250 mL: if that's what you have, salt only at the end.
🛒 Campbell's No Salt Added Chicken Broth, 900 mL, is listed at Walmart.ca and Voilà (Sobeys). One carton plus 350 mL water makes the 1.25 L. Vegetable broth works for a vegetarian soup.
Crème fraîche→35% whipping cream, plus a spoon of 14% sour cream per bowl
35% cream gives the richness of crème fraîche without the tang, and it won't split when the soup is reheated. For the French taste, add a spoon of 14% sour cream to each bowl off the heat. Don't boil the soup after the sour cream goes in: at 14% fat it can curdle.
🛒 Lactantia 35% Whipping Cream is listed at Voilà (Sobeys) and Sealtest 35% at Walmart. Compliments 14% (Voilà) and Great Value 14% (Walmart) sour cream come in 500 mL tubs. Liberté 40% crème fraîche, 250 mL, is at Metro, IGA and Super C in Quebec and on Voilà, if you see it.
Good to know: Pick leeks with a long, firm white part and no slimy outer layers. The dark tops are weight you'll freeze for stock, not soup.
Ready to cook?
Leek and Potato Soup
Potage poireaux-pommes de terre
Leeks softened in butter, simmered with Yukon Gold potatoes and blended into a pale, smooth soup. The everyday French potage, made with Canadian leeks and a carton of no-salt-added broth, and the base of cold vichyssoise.
Prep time
20 min
Cook time
35 min
Total time
55 min
Servings
6
Ingredients
Original recipe: 6 servings.
Instructions
Clean the leeks. Trim the roots and dark-green tops. Halve the leeks lengthwise and rinse under running water, fanning the layers to wash out any soil. Slice thinly.
Soften the leeks. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add the leeks with a pinch of salt and cook 8–10 minutes, stirring, until soft and collapsed but not browned: any colour turns the soup beige.
Simmer. Add the potatoes and broth, bring to a boil, then simmer 20–25 minutes, until the potatoes break apart when pressed with a spoon.
Blend. Blend with an immersion blender, or in batches in a blender with the lid vented, just until smooth. Stop there: overblending, or a food processor, works the potato starch and makes the soup gluey. For a rustic soup, skip the blender and crush the potatoes a few times with a potato masher.
Finish and serve. Stir in the cream, if using. Season with salt and pepper and reheat gently without boiling. Serve with croutons, chives or dill, and a spoon of sour cream in each bowl if you like.
Notes
Keeps 4 days in the fridge. Freeze it before adding the cream, which can separate when thawed, and stir the cream in as you reheat.
For vichyssoise, chill the blended soup at least 4 hours, stir in the cream and serve cold with chives. Cold dulls salt, so taste it once it's chilled and season again.
Grit in the first spoonful means the leeks weren't split. Next time, slice them first, swish the slices in a big bowl of cold water, then lift them out by hand so the soil stays at the bottom.
It thickens in the fridge. Thin it with a splash of broth or milk as you reheat.
Course: Appetizers · Cuisine: French · Adapted for Canadian kitchens
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