Potato Leek Soup

Leeks are probably one of my favorite vegetables. This year I tried growing them in my vegetable garden and was thrilled with my success. The only thing is when you have a hundred of them (and they don't keep well) you have to think of good ways to use a bunch of them up in one recipe. Potato leek soup fits the bill. The trick is to save some of the potato chunks to add in after pureeing.

J'adore: Potato Leek Soup

Ingredients:
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, pressed or minced
3 leeks, white and light green parts chopped
3 cups potatoes, chopped (I used 1 baking potato, 3 small red potatoes, and 2 Yukon gold potatoes)
2 quarts vegetable broth
olive oil (no more than 1 tsp.)
thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Saute garlic, onion, leeks, and potatoes in olive oil in a large pot. When onions and leeks look transparent add vegetable broth and some salt and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and allow to cook until potatoes are tender. Add fresh or dried thyme to taste (I think I used around 6 sprigs from the garden.) Once potatoes are tender, turn the heat off and ladle half of the soup into a blender. Puree. With a slotted spoon scoop some of the remaining potatoes and leeks out of the pot and set aside. Blend the remaining broth and return all pureed soup as well as potato and leek chunks to the pot. (You may have to do some finagling here; I poured the first batch from the blender into a storage container until I had finished blending the rest of the soup from the pot.) Turn heat back on and add salt and pepper to taste.

*Cream, half & half, or milk can be added for a creamier consistency. I intended to add half & half but didn't find that the soup actually needed it.