Hola Mi Gente,
I’m writing this from the grey Chicago January skies that try to convince us that winter will never end. And while I know March will convince me otherwise (and tease me with a false spring), I’m hunkering down with this seasonally appropriate and soup that is the perfect winter meal. It is hearty, it is smooth, and it’s perfect for this season in Chicago.
As some of you may know, I teach cooking classes to students and youth in the Northwestern Chicago neighborhood of Austin. In fact, just this winter we received a grant to fund our program for two years. It’s been one of the best outcomes to come out of 2020. As I’m writing curriculum for our 2021 cohorts I’m keeping in mind one of the pillars of our program: sustainability. One of the parts I’ve been most excited about this program is that while I have an aggressive curriculum for students to engage with, I also want them to think about food holistically: where does it come from? How does it impact our communities? What is the history and why is that important?
We’ll get to start breaking ground on the community garden that goes alongside our program this year, and while the summer will be a great opportunity to grow in abundance, I am really excited to talk them through the winter time and the harvests we can prepare for (and reap!) in the seeming dead of winter. Two of my favorite crops grow in the cold: garlic and potatoes. As I write curriculum that brings in seasonality and the idea of eating seasonally when possible, I’m excited to introduce my students to this recipe as a reminder that even when things seem dead, the earth still manages to yield us with harvests.
Okay, flavor wise, obviously this is creamy and rich and hearty. All things we long for in the middle of a long winter spent with Netflix and our couches (again). You’re also going to get a proper and generous dose of umami thanks to the roasted garlic. Because we’re roasting at a high heat, you might get some caramelization on your garlic cloves/paste–this is a good thing! The developed sugars will add depth of flavor to the dish. Because the soup itself has three whole cloves, it adds another dimension of flavor against the sweetness of the leeks and the earthiness of the potatoes.
You can of course use potatoes of your choice, but I particularly love Yukons for how soft they are. This means they cook relatively quickly, but also makes the soup all the creamier. An additional note about potatoes here and seasoning: potatoes soak up a lot of salt! It’s an old trick to add potatoes to something that is overly salted (because even in this salt heavy house, yes, that is a reality) because they absorb it really well. This means that you will want to salt aggressively here. Because potatoes + a lot of liquid means you’re just going to need to lean into it with some generosity of spirit. I know in a lot of cooking circles people tend to complain about only seasoning food with salt. That isn’t the case here. Think about the roasted garlic, our thyme, the flavor in the vegetable broth, and the sautéed and softened leeks: the salt is tying all of these together to make the moment they touch our tastebuds the perfect amplification of all of those. So basically, don’t sell yourself short here on salting (and a good dose of pepper, too!).
Also, the chili oil is an additional step I know, but hear me out! I am a child of taste contrast. If something is too rich, I need something to keep my tastebuds balanced and interested. Enter the chili oil. It brings a complex acidity, both from the lime and the garlic that switches up the flavor impact of this soup. The peppers have a subtle smokiness to them that I love, and all together it just makes for a touch of simple decadence, and in the middle of winter, we all need those little sparks.
Whether you’re a student in my cohort, or a home chef looking for a family-friendly weeknight meal, I hope this soup brings you seasonal comfort, and a reminder that there are fruits to be found in the winter. I know we live in a globalized society where we can eat tropical ingredients anytime of the year, but honing into the seasonality of ingredients allows us to enjoy them at their prime. I hope you enjoy this soup, and that it brings comfort to your winter cooking in the months to come before we break into the abundance of spring.
love, love, love,
Roasted Garlic Potato Leek Soup with Ancho Chili Oil
Equipment
- saute pan
- 5 qt deep pot or dutch oven
- immersion blender or blender
- chef knife
Ingredients
- 2 lbs yukon potatoes peeled and quartered
- 3 heads garlic roasted in aluminum foil
- 2 tbsp butter vegan butter for plant based
- 3 Leeks
- 1 quart vegetable broth
- 2.5 cups water
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- olive oil
- generous salt to taste
- pepper to taste
Ancho Chili Oil
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 dried ancho chili seeded and blended until flakey
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 head garlic roasted in aluminum foil
- salt to taste
Instructions
Roasted Garlic Potato Leek Soup
- Preheat oven to 425 F. Wrap all four heads of garlic in aluminum foil and place on the top rack of the oven to roast for 20 minutes, your garlic should be soft to the touch and easy to push out of the garlic skin into a sort of paste once finished roasting. Peel your potatoes and quarter them. Cover them with water, add in about 2 tbsp salt, and bring to a boil until the potatoes are soft and easy to pierce/mash. Your garlic and potatoes should be done around the same time.
- In the meantime, grab a cutting board and your leeks. With a sharp knife, remove the dark green, tough part of the leeks and set aside (you can use this for soup stocks or bone broth). Slice the white and light green part of the leeks into thin round slices, making sure to discard the root end. Grab your saute pan and heat over medium high heat for about a minute. Add in the 2 tbsp butter and enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan generously. Add in your sliced leeks reduce the heat to medium. Scatter them evenly across the bottom and saute them for about 10 minutes, moving them every 2-3 minutes until they are soft and white stems are transluscent.
- When your garlic is done, take three of the roasted heads and squeeze them out of the garlic skins into a small bowl. Mash with a fork until you have a smooth paste and pour into your saute pan with the leeks and saute together for about three minutes, until they are equally combined. Transfer the leeks and garlic to the dutch oven and add in the potatoes, fresh thyme, vegetable broth, and water. Bring to a simmer for five minutes, and then remove the sprigs of thyme.
- Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend until it reaches the texture you want (you're the boss of whether you want it slightly chunky or smooth). Pour back into the dutch oven and bring back up to a simmer. Begin seasoning with salt and pepper, stirring for about 30 seconds in between tasting. Remember that potatoes absorb A LOT of salt, so it will take some generous salting to season your soup. A good indicator that you are done seasoning is that tasting makes you close your eyes. Once you've reached that point, move onto the ancho chili oil.
Ancho Chili Oil
- Toast your pepper for 30 seconds on each side in a pan. Remove the stem from your ancho chili and squeeze out the seeds as best you can. Pulse in a food processor or with an immersion blender until you have small chili flakes. Add to a small bowl with your olive oil and let sit for five minutes for the pepper to infuse the oil. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the skin and finely chop until you achieve a sort of paste. Add to your oil bowl. Squeeze in the lime juice, and salt to taste (about 1.5 tsps should get you in the right flavor zone).
Serving Up
- Add your soup to a bowl and garnish however you want (caramelized onions, microgreens, croutons–you're the boss here; pictured are micro leeks) and drizzle some of the chili oil on top for a nice acidic flavor contrast to the rich creaminess of the soup. Enjoy, mi gente!
Mary-Beth Johnson
Mary-Beth is a creative, food-obsessed, Georgia transplant living Chicago. She is proudly and fiercely Latina, and more specifically Chapina. In her day to day she is a food educator to students around Chicagoland aged 3 to 80+, both virtually and in-person. She is passionate about cultivating the truth that every person has an understanding of food that deserves being brought to the table, and that time in the kitchen can be sacred, passionate, and an act of love for self and others. Outside the kitchen you can find her at the intersections of infertility, chronic illness, and a deep love for the dignity of all humans. She hopes to create a space that is holistic about the role of food in the social, political, relational, and physiological dynamics of our world.
