It's very easy to make: a pan, you pour water, you add peeled vegetables, you salt a little and you cook long enough. A small modern concession: a quick whizz with a blender at the end of cooking to obtain a smooth soup and hey presto, it's ready.
Let's put this into practice with the leek and potato soup, one of the pillars of French home cooking:
- Leeks are washed, peeled and sliced
- Potatoes are peeled, washed and cut into small pieces
- Put everything in a large saucepan, cover with water and salt
- Cook, blend if desired, and it's ready
Is that all? No, not quite, because it is possible to improve this method considerably by working the vegetables a little before adding the water. Let's start again:
- Wash, peel and slice leeks
- Peel, wash and chop potatoes
This is where it changes
- In the pot where the soup will be cooked, heat a little olive oil (or butter) over high heat
- Add a chopped onion and fry for 1 minute
- Add leek and potatoes to the pan, salt, pepper, and stir well, and cook for 3 or 4 minutes
- Then add the water and cook.
This little change is the trick that does it all: Frying the vegetables together, with the onion and a little oil/butter, before putting in the water, will give them a taste and depth that will be much better than vegetables simply added to the future soup water. This goes for all soups, with all vegetables.
To sum up: Always fry the vegetables in a future soup together for a few minutes, the taste will be much better.
