Slow Cooker Potato and Leek Soup

On the Gold Coast we have had our first taste of cooler mornings and evenings which means it’s time to start enjoying warm filling meals.  My slow cooker is gracing my bench again for the season and first up is this Potato and Leek Soup.  If you love your potatoes then you are going to love this soup.

It is thick and creamy and has a lovely sweet undertone flavour from leeks.  I have chosen to cook the potatoes in milk instead of stock (I have added flavour with garlic, leek and salt and pepper) as it keeps the potatoes plump and creamy.  I also chose not to peel the baby potatoes because who has time to peel potatoes before they leave the house for the day.  If you also choose not to peel your potatoes you will see light flecks of the skin after blitzing it up.  Simply peel your potatoes if you want to eliminate this.

I also made the quickest, tastiest, crunchiest croutons using a french stick, butter, garlic and herbs.  I’ll show you how to make these as well.

INGREDIENTS

1 kg Baby Cream Potatoes
1 Leek, white part sliced only
2 Garlic cloves, peel and crushed
1 Tbs Garlic Powder (found in the spice section of the supermarket)
500ml Milk (use light of skim to reduce calories)
250ml Water
1 Tbs Butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Croutons

1 French stick, sliced into 5mm rounds
2 Tbs Crushed Garlic
2 Tbs Fresh Parsley, chopped finely
50gm butter

LET’S PUT IT ALL TOGETHER

1. Place all the soup ingredients into the slow cooker and set to low and leave to cook for 8 hours or until the potatoes are soft when you cut through with a knife.  If you slow cooker allows set to high for 4 hours.  Note: don’t be concerned by the curled milk it will all mix in when blitzed and it is perfectly safe to consume.

2. Once the soup ingredients are cooked, using a handheld stick blender, blitz the mix to make a smooth and creamy soup.  If you feel the soup is too thick simply add a little more water and blitz again.

To make croutons

1. Place the butter, garlic and parsley into a large frypan over a medium heat.  Once the butter has melted add the french sticks rounds and cook until toasted on one side then flip and cook on the other until the same.  Remove from the pan.

Serve your potato and leek soup with the crunch croutons.  Enjoy as a side dish or a main.

Makes 6-8 serves

Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Freezer friendly: I like to store portions of soup in zip lock bags.  Remove the air and lye flat in the freezer.  You can stack packets on top of each other to reduce the amount of space taken up in the freezer.

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