Recipe Git v1
Potage Parmentier
Cookbook | Recipes | Ingredients | Equipment | Techniques | Cookbook Disambiguation Pages | Recipes | Cuisine of France | Soup
Source: Wikibooks contributors (https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook%3APotage_Parmentier)
Adapted: Imported and reformatted by HowManyCookies from the cited Wikibooks revision.
Source revision: https://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?title=Cookbook%3APotage%20Parmentier&oldid=4518488
License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) · Wikibooks contributors
Ingredients
- 3–4 cups (~1 lb / 450 g) sliced leeks or onions
- 3–4 cups (700–900 g / 2 lb) floury potatoes (e.g. Idaho, Maris Piper), peeled and thickly sliced
- 2 quarts (2 L) water
- 2 tbsp table salt or 1 tbsp sea/rock salt
- White pepper, freshly ground, to taste
- 4–6 tbsp heavy (double) cream
- 1–2 cups (up to 450 g / 1 lb) vegetables (optional), thinly sliced
- 1–2 handfuls flat-leaf parsley or watercress (optional), rough chopped
Directions
- If using leeks, remove the roots and dark green leaves; wash twice as long as you think necessary to remove the grit.
- Place the vegetables, water and salt in a pot and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and gently simmer (partially covered) for 45–50 minutes. The soup is done when you can easily mash the vegetables against the side of the pot.
- Puree the soup using a food mill fitted with the fine disc. Optionally, pulse it in a blender just until smooth and pass through a fine sieve.
- Chill the soup if it is to be served cold, or gently reheat it to a simmer. Refrigerate any left-overs. It will keep for days if refrigerated in a covered container as soon as it cools.
- Add 1½–2 tsp cream (or whole milk) per portion just before serving. You’ll need more cream if you’re serving the soup hot or if it’s a bit watery; the idea is to create a smooth, silky puree, but you don’t want the taste or mouth feel of the cream to predominate. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper.
Notes
After cooking the soup, leave it to cool in the refrigerator for 1–2 hours. It will taste better when heated up to serve!
Raw vegetables should be added to the soup at the beginning of the cooking time; if using left-over vegetables or herbs, add them after the soup has been cooking for 30–40 minutes, so they cook just long enough to completely warm through.
If using "regular" table salt instead of kosher salt, reduce the amount of salt to 1–1½ tbsp. A chilled soup usually requires slightly more seasoning than that added to a hot serving; this can be added individually to taste.
A combination of young buttery parsnips and a couple of punnets of mustard-and-cress makes the classic French puree pasternak. A teaspoon of potato, rice, or corn starch should be used to stabilise the puree, which should be milled or sieved.
Using white pepper is preferable for color. Use fresh-ground black pepper otherwise.
A proportion of light chicken or vegetable stock may be used instead of the water.
Snipped chives are the classic garnish for leek-and-potato soup. When including asparagus, you can use steamed asparagus tips as a garnish; with broccoli, use steamed broccoli florets—you get the idea. Of course, if you’re just pouring a mid-afternoon mug for yourself, who cares how it looks?