This soup is so creamy and filling that it’s hard to believe how low calorie it is!  This recipe is plenty for two dinners and two lunches the next day.  It’s low calorie count leaves plenty in the budget for a chunk of fresh warm bread alongside it, with even some real butter!!! Winner! (Not that I have anything against a good butter substitute… I’d love to be able to get “I can’t believe it’s not butter” here, but it just isn’t available sadly).

I usually use the cartons of reduced salt broth, but I didn’t have any in, so for this time I used one chicken stock cube and one vegetable stock cube, but made sure to hold back on adding salt till the end as these cubes can be very salty. Use all chicken or all vegetable stock as you wish. X

If using stock cubes, put them into a large jug and add boiling water to make 1.5 Litres of liquid. Stir to start the cube dissolving. Wash the leeks as they can be gritty, and roughly chop them up.

Warm a teaspoon of olive oil in a large saucepan and add the leeks on a low heat. Add a good amount of freshly ground black pepper (to your taste). Stir and slowly sweat the leeks till they soften – you don’t want to brown them at all. Keep stirring occasionally and add splashes of water if needed to prevent the leeks from sticking or browning. Add a scant half teaspoon of Onion Salt and continue gently softening the leeks.

Meanwhile peel the potatoes and chop into 1-2 inch chunks. Add the potatoes to the pot. Then pour in the stock, add a good twist of freshly ground black pepper and bring to a boil, then reduce to a very low simmer and put the lid on.

Simmer for 20minutes, until the potatoes are soft and break apart easily. Check seasoning and add salt and more black pepper as needed.

Now you have a choice about how you like your soup. You can eat it just like this as a broth with veggies. You can use a potato masher to break it up a bit. You can blend it to a smooth uniform creamy soup. Or I prefer to blend it to about 75% so it’s mostly creamy but still has lumps of potato and bits of leeks – it somehow feels more substantial and filling this way.

A stick blender is the easiest thing to use for this; blended right in the saucepan and no need for extra washing up.

This amount is good for 3 large pasta bowls at (+/- 500g) for dinner at , or makes 5 lunch bowls (+/- 330g). The two of us had this batch for dinner with some fresh baguette, then the rest for lunch the next day. Perfect!

RECIPE: CREAMY LEEK & POTATO SOUP 

Makes 5 lunch bowls for 112 calories each, or 3 dinner bowls for 187 calories each

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tsp Olive oil
• 450g leeks, washed and chopped (2 large leeks)
• 350g potato, peeled and chopped (4 med floury potatoes)
• 1 chicken stock cube
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 1.5L water
• 1/4 tsp onion salt
• S&P

METHOD

• Make up stock to 1.5 litres of liquid
• Wash and chop the leeks, including some of the green part
• Peel and chop the potatoes  
• Warm 1 tsp of olive oil in a large saucepan on a low heat
• Add leeks and stir. Gently sweat the leeks, adding splashes of water occasionally to prevent them from sticking or browning.
• Add a good twist of freshly ground black pepper and a little onion salt
• Once the leeks are soft (about 5 minutes) add the potatoes and stir.
• Add the stock and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and cover. Simmer on a very low heat for 20 minutes or until the potato is soft and breaks apart easily.
• Using a stick blender directly in the saucepan, blend the soup to about 75% leaving some pieces of potato and leeks whole for a creamy yet substantial meal.