Three-cornered leek and potato soup

The perfect soup for those chilly first few days of spring

This tasty soup is basically just leek and potato soup - it's a classic for a reason and barely needs any messing about with. But I couldn't help myself when I was told that the wild garlic that I was foraging for yesterday was actually a variant called three-cornered leek. The leaves were more narrow than the wild garlic I'm used to foraging, but the familiar triangular stem was there - and of course the pungent smell! And I couldn't pass up on the punning opportunity to create a three-cornered leek and potato soup - the bonkersness of its name is more than enough for me. That it tastes nice is a bonus.

Ingredients

Serves 4

Large knob butter

Splash of olive oil

2 small leeks (or one large one), thinly sliced

3 medium white potatoes, chopped

Handful of wild garlic or three-cornered leek

1 small courgette (optional)

Kettle-full of hot water and heaped tsp of Bouillion powder/stock cube/fresh vegetable stock

Freshly ground black pepper

Method

Start by gently melting the butter in a large saucepan along with the splash of olive oil. Once melted add the sliced leeks and start to gently fry them off. Once they're softened, add the chopped courgette and then a minute or two later, the potato and the wild garlic. The courgette is purely optional - I had one that needed to be used up and this soup, already stained green with the leeks and garlic, could hide it quite nicely.

Before too long (ie don't let anything stick to the bottom of the pan, but do make sure that the leek and courgette are softened) add the boiling water and stock powder. It was probably about a pint or so of water - I didn't measure it, but it covered the potato and vegetables completely.

Simmer until the potato is cooked and then take it off the heat for a few mins before blitzing with a hand blender. At this point you could add a dash of cream, or milk, or even more water if you haven't added enough already. Grind in lots of black pepper, stir it through and serve with crusty bread and maybe some cheese.

For another good way to use foraged wild garlic - of the three-cornered leek variety or otherwise - try my wild garlic and hazelnut pesto.