Hidden Bean Potato and Leek Soup

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.

This filling soup makes a great first course or light lunch if paired with a simple salad.

Hidden Bean Leek and Potato Soup

2 tbsp butter
2 leeks, white bottoms and tender green parts, thoroughly cleaned and diced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
3 medium or 2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 rib celery, diced
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 cup sweet white wine or sherry
4 cups vegetable broth (can use chicken broth too)
2 cups water
1 can garbanzo, navy or cannellini beans
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp lemon zest (optional to taste)
1/3 cup heavy cream
minced flat leaf parsley and/or snipped chives, for garnish

In a large heavy-bottomed pot or dutch oven brown the butter over medium-high heat until golden and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the leeks and onions to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent and the leeks are starting to soften. Add the potatoes, garlic and celery and cook with the leeks and onions for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in the thyme, bay leaf and sherry. The alcohol in the sherry will start to boil off. Stir the vegetables as the sherry is boiling until the liquid has been absorbed by the veggies and the raw alcohol smell has dissipated. Turn the heat down to medium low and add the vegetable broth, water and beans. Cook the mixture uncovered for about 25-30 minutes until the potatoes are soft, to the point of falling apart and the liquid had reduced by about 1/3.

Turn off the heat and carefully ladle all of the soup mixture into a blender, being sure not to leave any extraneous solid pieces of veggie or bean in the pot. It's best to let the soup cool some before putting it in the blender to minimize the risk of boiling potato mixture splattering all over the place if you don't get the lid of the blender on tightly. Blend until the entire mixture is smooth. If it is too thick and the blender can't operate smoothly, add more water, 2 tbsp. at a time until it is the consistency you want. This may very depending on how thick you like your soup. Carefully pour the blended mixture back into the pot and reheat to desirable serving temperature, stirring constantly. Take off the heat and add in the lemon zest and heavy cream. Correct seasoning. Stir to combine. Ladle into serving bowls and garnish with herbs.

Notes:  Also, I used heavy cream because the acid in the wine might separate half and half or milk (the fat in heavy cream is what keeps it stable). If you are unable to eat heavy cream or you are worried about the fat content, you can swirl a bit of milk or half and half into the bowl as you serve it. This will minimize the separation. Even if this does occur, the taste of the soup won't be dramatically affected, but the appearance and texture won't be as smooth. If you'd prefer, you can also leave out the dairy all together. It won't be as creamy, but it will still be very tasty. This soup is an adaptation of the Franco-American Vichyssoise. Thus, you can definitely serve it chilled for a refreshing summer soup. If you do, I suggest thinning out the soup a bit with vegetable broth or water and increase the salt a little bit as well; the starches in the soup will thicken it as is cools and taste sensitivity to salt is diminished in cold dishes.