IreneDanish potato and leek soup
Crisp and delicate, dill is a wonderful accompaniment for fish and vegetables in particular. In a Danish soup, it provides a subtle undertone to the perfect pairing of leek and potato. This soup, the recpe for which I found in International Vegetarian Cookbook (1983), is "[c]ommonplace on Danish dinner tables" and "tingles with the typically Scandinavian vigor of dill weed and sour cream". I had this with homemade bread for a light lunch.
Ingredients (about 8-10 servings)
Danish leek soup
- 4 large leeks (2 to 2.5 lbs)
- 2 tbsp margarine or butter
- 1 tbsp dill weed
- 4 large potatoes, peeled and sliced (2.5 to 3 lbs)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp white pepper
- 3 cups vegetable stock
- 2 cups milk
- sour cream and chopped dill to serve
- Trim and discard root ends and tough parts of leeks. Cut leeks in half lengthwise and clean them thoroughly. Then cut them into thin slices.
- Melt margarine in a saucepan over medium heat. Add leeks and dill, and cook, stirring often until leeks soften.
- Add potatoes, salt, pepper, and stock. Bring to a boil over high heat, and then cover and reduce to medium-low. Simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 30-40 minutes.
- Whirr the soup in a blender (or use an immersion blender), in batches, until it achieves desired smoothness.
- Return the puree to the saucepan and add the milk.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until soup steams.
- Serve soup with sour cream and dill sprinkled on top.
