Ingredients

• 3 cups of chicken stock (or stock of choice)

• 1 large russet potato

• 2 tsp fine sea salt

• 1/4 tsp baking soda

• 2 large leeks

• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

• 4 garlic cloves

• 2 tbsp white or yellow miso paste

• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric

• 1 tsp ground black pepper

• 1/4 tsp ground chipotle

• 4 oz diced pancetta (optional)
  

Tools

• Medium to large cooking pot

• Large cooking pan/skillet

• Blender

Instructions

1. Pour 2 cups chicken stock into a pot and bring to a boil.

2. While the stock is heating up, peel and dice the potato into 1 inch chunks.

3. Once stock is boiling, place the potato chunks, 1 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of baking soda into the pot. Cover and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the potato is soft.

4. While the potatoes cook, thinly slice the leeks and separate the green tops and white portions.

5. Over medium heat, warm 2 tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil and add the green tops of the leeks and 1/2 of the white pieces. Add 1/4 tsp fine sea salt and sauté until the leeks begin to brown, about 6-8 minutes.

6. After both the potatoes and green leek tops are cooked, place them into a blender along with the stock, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 4 garlic cloves, 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, 2 tbsp miso paste, 1/2 tsp ground turmeric, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper, and 1/4 tsp of ground chipotle. Blend until smooth.

7. (Optional) Prepare the pancetta by adding it to the skillet on medium heat with 1/2 tsp ground pepper and cook until it starts to brown, about 6-8 minutes.

8. About halfway through cooking the pancetta, add the last 1/2 of the white portion of the remaining leek to the skillet and cook until brown or crisp.

9. Pour blended soup into bowls and top with the pancetta and crisped leek.

10. Taste before adding any extra salt, since the pancetta will add saltiness (if used). Salt to taste and serve warm.

The Novel

Back when I lived in California, I thought it would be a great idea to move to a tiny beach town two hours from my job while working in the city four days a week. This meant I spent almost 16 hours a week commuting. Why? Good question. Maybe because I love money, or maybe because I enjoy watching my life flash by from the highway. Naturally, the lifetime of sitting really took a toll on my body. To save what was left of my spine, I started crashing at my sister’s place once a week—who had the sense to live much closer to work than I did.

My sister was part of a monthly cookbook club and as her frequent house guest, I was, of course, volunteered into this. The concept: she and her friends would pick a different recipe from the same book each month, make it, then not even hang out to try each others recipes. They would literally just text each other to say if it sucked or not. Most of the recipes were mid, but one time we stumbled upon a potato leek soup that was pretty solid. However, the instructions were insanely difficult to understand for no reason.

So, after a few trial runs, some educated guesses, and some tweaks to the recipe, I’ve managed to translate it. If you’re here for a potato leek soup recipe that actually makes sense, look no further.