Leek, carrot and potato soup or "my soup", according to my husband

Soups and winter go perfectly together, right? I make soups quite often during the colder months, and when I do I usually make a large batch so we can have it for dinner two days in a row. I have noticed that most soups, and the one I bring you today especially, taste even better the next day, so there’s another reason for making extra soup. :)

I like to vary when it comes to food and soup is no exception, but this is my husband’s favorite soup: whenever he wants me to cook it he says “why don’t you make your soup tonight?”, and I know that by my soup he means the vegetable soup I’ve been making for as long as I can remember. I have made this soup with and without the leek (just onions and garlic), with squashed added in the mix, with and without the pasta and rice replacing it, you name it. The fresh oregano is a recent addition: I’d always made this soup with parsley only, but on a given day I did not want the oregano bunch to go to waste and ended up adding it to the soup – after that, it became indispensable.

This is a very simple, yet versatile recipe and you can adjust it to make it your own. I used butter because I can’t resist using it with leeks, but you can omit that for a vegan soup.

We love having this soup with some crusty bread on the side, but it would be a crime for me not to suggest Barbara Lynch’s grilled cheese, too. :)

Leek, carrot and potato soup
own creation

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
½ tablespoon olive oil
1 leek, white part only, chopped
½ large onion, finely diced
2 fat garlic cloves, minced
2 ripe tomatoes, seeds removed, finely chopped
3 carrots, in small cubes
3 potatoes, in small cubes
boiling water, enough to cover the vegetables
salt and freshly ground black pepper
handful fresh oregano leaves
handful fresh parsley leaves, chopped
1 cup cooked small shaped pasta, such as ditalini*

Heat butter and olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the leek and onion and cook until transparent, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and a pinch of salt and cook until they are mushy. Add the carrots and potatoes and stir to combine. Cover with boiling water and season with salt and pepper. When the soup comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover partially and cook until vegetables are tender, 10-15 minutes.
With an immersion blender, blitz the soup for a couple of seconds – you want the mixture to be half chunky, half smooth. Add the oregano and parsley, check the seasoning.
Divide the pasta among the serving bowls, top with the soup and serve.

* Once the pasta is in the soup it won’t stop swelling – that is why I cook it separately and add it only to the bowls when serving and not to the entire batch of soup

Serves 4