leek and potato soup with chicken, bacon and sage
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients
50g butter
1 onion, chopped
75g smoked streaky bacon, chopped
1 tbsp chopped sage or 1 tsp dried sage
450g potatoes, peeled and sliced
450g leeks, sliced finely
2 litres chicken stock *
200g - 300g cooked shredded chicken *
salt and pepper
* a few chicken thighs can be poached with the veg stock - using the liquid to make the soup and mixing the cooked chicken in at the end.
Instructions
1. In a large pan place the chopped onion and sweat in the butter along with the bacon and sage for about 10 minutes, without browning. Add the leeks and potatoes and stir well.
2. Add enough chicken stock to cover the vegetables, bring to the boil and simmer for about 30 minutes… until the vegetables are tender. Take a few cups of the soup and puree in a food processor before returning to the soup pan. Mix together. This should bring the soup together.
3. Add the chicken and season. More stock or a dash of cream can be added to make your soup the required consistency.
You may puree the whole soup mix but depending on the variety of potato, this could have mixed results. Floury potatoes are perfect for pureed soups but sometimes over processing can result in a 'gloopy', slightly sticky mess. I generally prefer to only process a few cups unless it is a classic smooth soup and then I would normally pass the soup through a 'mouli' for a better result.=
