Vichyssoise, famous delicate French soup, is a light soup made with leeks and potatoes and creamed with milk and heavy cream. It is traditionally served cold with fresh chives on top, which makes it just the right summer dinner choice.
Ingredients
- 80g butter
- 500g leeks (only white and light green parts)
- 1 medium onion (100-120g)
- 500g potatoes
- 1 bouquet garni*
- salt
- 300ml heavy cream
- 5 tbs finely chopped chives
* See bonus tips below
Instructions
- Peal the onion, wash the leeks, and slice them finely.
- Peal the potatoes and cut them roughly.
- Melt the butter in the pot, add the onion and leeks, and fry on low heat for about 10 minutes making sure they don’t change color.
- Add the potatoes, mix well, pour 1.2l of water and bring to boil.
- Lower the heat to medium, add salt and bouquet garni, mix well and cook for 30 minutes.
- Remove bouquet garni and cream the mixture with a hand blender.
- Drain the soup through a strainer, add milk and heavy cream, and mix well. Bring to boil once again.
- Taste for salt and adjust accordingly. To achieve silky smooth texture drain the soup through the strainer once again.
- Cover the pot, let it completely cool down at room temperature and then transfer to the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
- Serve* vichyssoise cold with finely chopped chives on top.
* See bonus tips below
Bonus Tips for French Vichyssoise Soup
- To make the bouquet garni we used a few fresh parsley and thyme stalks, and 2 bay leaves. Using a butcher’s twine, the herbs were tied together making a bouquet.
- A variation called sachet is made as a package enclosing herbs in a piece of cheesecloth. This allows using dry herbs as well, and easy removal once the cooking is done. See more tips and explanations in this post by MasterClass staff.
- Why not go an extra mile and serve a luxurious variant with whipped cream and chives as they did at the French Cooking Academy?