Leek-Potato Soup with Smoked Paprika Oil
A pale, silk-finished soup with a thin red slick of smoked paprika oil poured over at the table.
Method
Slice the leeks in half lengthwise, rinse well under cold water to remove all sand, then slice thinly crosswise.
Melt the butter in a heavy pot over medium-low heat. Add the leeks and a pinch of salt; cook gently for 10 minutes, until soft but not browned.
Add the potatoes, stock, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook 20-25 minutes, until the potatoes are completely tender.
Fish out the bay leaf. Blend the soup with an immersion blender (or in batches in a standing blender) until completely smooth. Stir in the cream and adjust seasoning.
For the paprika oil: warm the olive oil gently with the smoked paprika and flaky salt for 2 minutes off the heat. Let it steep for 5 minutes.
Ladle the soup into warmed bowls. Drizzle a thin stream of the paprika oil over each. Serve immediately.
Soup should taste like the weather outside.
— Oysterdrive
The quiet middle
This is the soup you serve between two louder courses. Pale, almost ivory, with the faint green of leek showing through at the edges of the bowl. The oil is the only color: a thin layer of red-gold that pools and disperses as you stir once with the spoon.
Leeks want to be cleaned twice. Sand lives between the layers; a quick soak in cold water is not optional. Blend the soup longer than you think you should; the texture is the entire difference between homemade and bought.