I’m back with another good soup recipe and this time it’s potato & leek soup with crispy bacon bits. The crazy thing about this soup is it doesn’t have any heavy cream in it and yet it’s creamy, dreamy and extremely luscious. Let me show you how to make it!

There are 3 main components to this dish: The soup, crispy bacon & the bread

1. The soup: the star ingredients are obvious leek and potatoes but there are also garlic and onion to add another layer of dimension to this soup. Roasting the garlic milds down the harsh garlicky flavour and allow the other ingredients to shine.
2. Crispy bacon: straight onto a tray and into the oven until crispy. If you want the bacon flavour to be in the soup, I suggest you cook the bacon in the pot first then add in the leeks & onion, and continue with the recipe.
3. Bread: i used focaccia but sourdough would also be amazing. Toast in butter on a frying pan.

Ingredients

5-6 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 leek, chopped
1 onion, diced
1 garlic bulb, top chopped off
1 sprig rosemary
2 cups veggie stock
2 cups water
Butter
Parsley, for garnish
2 strips bacon
Bread slices, toasted in butter

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160C/320F.
2. In a small ramekin, place your garlic bulb inside with a generous drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake low and slow for 1.5-2 hours or until the garlic is golden brown and soft.
3. Place the bacon strips onto a baking tray and also into the oven until the bacon is golden brown. Mince the strips or leave it whole if you prefer.
4. In a pot over medium heat, melt 2 tbsp of butter. Add in the leeks and onion, sweat until soft and translucent.
5. Squeeze out the roasted garlic into the pot, followed by the potatoes, rosemary, stock and water. Simmer until the potatoes are soft and cooked through, then fish out the rosemary sprig.
6. With a stick blender (or a standing blender), blend your soup until smooth. Serve the soup into bowls with the crispy bacon bits, a drizzle of olive oil and parsley.