Leek 'n' tattie soup ... the ultimate comfort food

Poor Emi has just gone Full Metal Jacket with the orthodontist, who has started to encase his teeth in metal braces. The poor lamb is still getting used to the sensation of having his pearly whites pulled into place to straighten his smile. I'm sure he'll thank us in the future, but right now he's got mixed feelings about the whole business.

So, to cheer him up, and give him some easy-to-chew chow whilst he's getting used to how his mouth has been re-configured, we're eating a lot of ... soup. One of my favourite go-to dishes in times of crisis and stress is Leek 'n' Tattie soup. It's comfort food on a spoon, and it's helped me to cope with many a black dog day. And, let's face it, with all this cold, grim weather, we could use a bit of comfort.

Just read on for the recipe.

Ingredients

2 large leeks - white part only (about 450 g) - washed and thinly sliced
1, large onion - peeled and finely diced
4 medium sized potatoes (about 400g) - peeled and diced
1 litre of good chicken stock
150 ml double cream or crème fraȋche - I'd use whichever one I had in the fridge, and if I'm going down the double cream route I'll use Elmlea Light, which cuts the fat content by 40% and has an extended shelf-life making it a great emergency pull-out ingredient.
150 ml milk
Butter and a good glug of olive oil for sweating the vegetables

Garnish

Finely chopped chives or parsley
Swirl of pouring cream

1. Melt the butter with the olive oil in a big saucepan. Add the onion, leeks and potatoes and heat over a gentle heat until they have softened without burning or catching on the bottom of the pan.

2. Season and add the chicken stock once the vegetables have softened. Bring to the boil, and simmer gently until the vegetables have just cooked. Try not to overcook them at this stage as the soup will taste much better if they haven't been boiled too long.

3. Liquidise with a stick blender until the soup has a smooth velvet consistency. Taste, and adjust seasoning if necessary.

4. Add milk and cream (or crème fraȋche), and heat gently until the mixture has heated through.

5. Dish up with a swirl of cream on top and a garnish of chopped herbs.

And here's a picture of my baby when he still had his lovely milk teeth. He used to pull as many funny faces as he could muster when I took my camera out. And some of his ideas of what constituted a funny face were very funny indeed. Happy times! Nifty gnashers!

All the best for now,

Bonny x