Soup for a cold day

Well I am completely and utterly snowed in today, we live at the bottom of a hill and no one is going anywhere. Everything looks absolutely beautiful and it is so quiet. I thought now would be a good time to make a big bowl of soup and luckily I have a full larder as I went shopping before the snow. I am using a recipe from Nigel Slater's kitchen diaries - this is a wonderful book based on the dates and months of the year and by rights this soup should be cooked on January 13th he says!

The one thing he always says to do is keep those parmesan rinds, the nasty ones that have been sitting in the fridge for weeks, they are full of flavour and make this leek and potato soup even more delicious. You will also need -
3 good sized leeks
40g butter
3 medium potatoes
a couple of large hunks of parmesan rind
1.5 litres of light stock or water
a handful of parsley
6 tablespoons of grated parmesan

Trim the leeks, slice them into thick rings, then wash thoroughly. Melt the butter in a heavy based pan and then tip in the washed leeks and let them soften slowly, covered with a lid, over a low to moderate heat. After about twenty minutes and with some occasional stirring, they should be silkily tender.

While they are softening, peel the potatoes and cut them into chunks. Add them to the leeks when they are soft and let them cook for five minutes before dropping in the cheese rinds and pouring in the stock or water. Season with salt and pepper and then partially cover and leave to simmer for forty minutes.

Remove and discard the undissolved cheese rinds, scraping back into the soup any cheesy goo from them as you go. Add the leaves of the parsley and blitz the soup in a blender. Check the seasoning - it does need a surprisingly generous amount of salt and pepper - bring briefly to the boil and serve piping hot with the grated parmesan. This will feed 6.

27 comments:

  1. oh wow, that soup sounds absolutely delicious! and I love the use of the old parmesan rinds!

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  2. One of my favorites, and so perfect for this weather! Thank you for sharing.

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  3. it's such a great feeling to be snowed in! soup sounds delicious, and the photo is awesome! Enjoy it! :) Have a great Thursday.

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  4. yummy....by the way, thanks for your help. I has to download something from nikon for the RAW pictures to transer to lightroom. :)

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  5. Looks/sounds yummy! Am going to have to try the recipe myself!

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  6. Brilliantly composed shot. Love the rustic feel to it. The soup sounds very tasty. I made pumpkin soup yesterday (yet again) still trying to get through my homegrown crop!

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  7. Mmm. It's yummy isn't it? I have the book and absolutely love it.

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  8. Oh, this sounds so good. It is snowy and cold here in the Rockies today, and a hot, steamy bowl of soup sounds perfect. Love your image as well.

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  9. Oh WOW.. Snowed in! I must say I have never said those words in my life.. But then again I have been in the desert almost my whole life.. I does sound kinda romantic.

    Your soup does sound so yummy and your photo look wonderful..

    Stay warm my friend..

    Hugs, Linda

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  10. Every single ingredient is perfect in this - I love leeks and potatoes! I love knowing better how to use old parmensan rinds :)

    Love this, Justine! (Btw, I also love Tilda Swinton and can't wait to see that movie).

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  11. Great shot,,,great soup....what more could a girl ask for....except maybe a person to shovel us out!!!!! I just had a sighting of the abominable snowman a few hours ago...lookout!!
    He is hungry....I think he wants to taste test that soup of yoursssssssssss....

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  12. Beautiful photo Justine, a few more dark shadows and it could be a still life for a Dutch or Flemish painting from the 18th. century.

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  13. I always put Parmesan rinds in my soups, especially my lentil soup!

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  14. Super shot, Justine. Looks like it right out of a famous cookbook.

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  15. Mmm, I'm hungry. When is dinner?
    Great photo, love the composition and the lighting.

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  16. this sounds so delicious! perfect for a cold day, indeed!

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  17. Oh my goodness....cant believe you are snowed in! Hope your pantry is well stocked, Im sure you could survive for a few days at least on that delcious soup!

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  18. Beautiful picture -- it is so nicely composed! Nothing goes better with snow than a nice warm soup! : )

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  19. yum.

    being snowed in with a pot full of soup.

    sounds cozy.

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  20. Nothing like a potato leek soup, any version at all. Also good with cauliflower and a little curry instead of the parmesan. Lovely photo, too.

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  21. Sounds delicious!! And a great cold, snowy day soup!

    Weatherman said our winter is forecast to be above average temperatures, then followed that up by saying lows next week are expected to be in the teens...I think he's confused!!

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  22. That soup sounds delicious and I love that shot to accompany the recipe.

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  23. My new favorite vegetable are leeks! And they are so good in soup... as you know. This photograph is so beautiful. Great composition and color choices. I will have to try this recipe. Thanks.

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  24. That soup really sounds delicious - I will definitely give it a try! Thanks so much for sharing your recipe! And I love that photo!

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