The Cheapest Meal Ever

Family Friendly Meals Series, Day 8
Homemade Potato Leek Soup

This story actually starts last spring. You see, that's when I planted the leeks that I grew in my garden with the express purpose of making potato leek soup....I know, I'm a bit of a planner! So here's what I pulled out of the ground today!

It was a joy, and also super easy, to clean them up and get organized for making soup! I made soup and rolls, which could be paired with fruit or salad. Total cooking time for the rolls was one hour, and the soup about 30 minutes.


Soup Ingredients
2 tbsp butter
4 leeks, washed and sliced
1/8 teaspoon chile powder (or a bit more if your family likes spicy food)
6 cups water
4 largish russet potatoes
salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste

1. Start by slicing the leeks in preparation of cooking them in the butter. Cut thin slices; I cut about 4-5 inches up the leeks I grew, which were very long and thin. Melt the butter in a soup pot or dutch oven on medium low. Add the leeks and stirring pretty frequently cook them for about 5 minutes, till they fade in color and soften. While the leeks were cooking, I peeled the potatoes and cut them into cubes.


2. Add the chile pepper (photo above has chile pepper mixed in, that's why the mixture is tinted brown) and stir for a few seconds and then add the water and cubed potatoes. Cover and simmer. Depending on how large your potato cubes are, it could take anywhere from 15-30 minutes for your potatoes to soften.

3. Once they are soft, use an immersion blender and puree the mixture. Season the finished product to taste with salt and fresh ground paper.

I added a touch of shredded cheese for garnish. My eldest, who is the finickiest eater evaaaaah, said it was good!

And just because I had a bit of time on my hand, I made fresh rolls. Pampered Chef's pizza dough makes pretty tasty dinner rolls when you are in a pinch.

So, for the price of a few potatoes and some dough mix, I got complete and total deliciousness. Eat on my friends.