A few weeks ago I had a bunch of potatoes and some leftover leeks so I decided to make a french-style leek and potato soup. To help thicken the soup and to punch up the nutritional value, I added garbanzo beans and pureed the whole thing. The beans blend with the potato and leek flavors beautifully, add a lovely richness and yet hide completely in the background.
You can leave this soup unpureed for a rustic effect, but a pureed soup is more traditional. If you do leave it unpureed, I suggest using navy or cannellini beans instead of garbanzos. They will be softer and won't dominate the final soup as much.
