Happy September to you all!

As you may have read elsewhere on the blog. This is the week where myself, Jasmine of Questadolcevita and Kelly of Italianatheart host an Italophile linkup called #Dolcevitabloggers. Every month we encourage people to write on a different topic and in September we're sharing our 'Favourite Italian Recipes'.

I decided on a quick creamy Gorgonzola pasta recipe for mine. To my delight some of the wonderful Italy loving community have contributed recipes of their own!

Here we have a super, comforting leek and potato soup shared with us by Mary.

Mary is from Chicago and now lives in Italy, in the Province of Ascoli Piceno. This dish is a huge hit in her house and we can’t wait to try it!

Leek and potato soup

(serves 4, or double up the recipe and feed twice as many or have great leftovers!)

Recipe

10 potatoes, washed, peeled, cut into smallish chunks (as big as you enjoy biting, that’s my rule!) and rinsed or not rinsed. There are two theories, Rinsing after cutting takes the extra starch out that seems to come out in abundance during cutting and makes the soup “lighter”, but leaving starch in makes the soup denser. The choice is yours!
2 leeks, washed, chopped and then broken up into individual rings.
1 broth cube (dado) (vegetable or porcini).
Small box of heavy cream.
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Method

Put the potatoes in a big pot. Then fill up with water twice the volume as the potatoes.
Put the broth cube in the water (add some more salt if you have an organic cube). Bring to a boil and keep cooking.
Once the potatoes are cooked (test the large ones now and then), take only half of them out with a ladle and put them in a food processor until they are mashed (keeping a bit of the water makes it easier). Pour this creamed potato back into the broth/potatoes and blend, keeping simmered.
Meanwhile, brown your leeks in extra virgin olive oil (with salt and pepper). As soon as they are done, in they go with the rest. Blend and simmer for a few minutes.
Then, take the pot off the heat, stir in a box of heavy cream until well blended, serve HOT!

Mary’s Top Tip!

“It’s somehow even better the next day! However, you might want to vary the leftovers, so add more water and when it boils, toss in some small pasta for soup”.