Leek and potato soup with macadamia-chive dressing

Wales loves leeks – it's the national symbol – and potato and leek soup, too! You can’t beat this soup; the potatoes thicken it to a delicate, creamy consistency. Gaz Oakley says it’s great on its own, but paired with the nutty chive dressing and potato doughnuts for dipping, it will blow your mind.

Leek and potato soup with macadamia-chive dressing and potato doughnuts. Credit: Quadrille

• serves

  6

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• ¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
• 5 leeks, white and pale green parts roughly chopped, green tops reserved
• 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
• 2 tsp celery salt
• ½ tsp ground white pepper
• 2 large potatoes (I recommend Maris Piper), peeled and chopped into small chunks
• 1 litre (4 cups) vegetable stock
• 250 ml (1 cup) macadamia nut milk, or milk of your choice
• Juice of ½ a lemon, to taste
• Potato doughnuts (recipe here) or toasted sourdough, to serve

Macadamia and chive dressing

• 125 g (1 cup/4 ½oz) macadamia nuts, toasted
• 40 g (1 cup/1½ oz) chopped chives
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 3 tsp capers
• ¼ cup (60 ml) extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

1. For the soup, heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat, then add the chopped leeks, garlic and celery, seasoning with the celery salt and white pepper. Stir to coat everything in the oil, then lower the heat, cover with a lid and let the vegetables sweat gently, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. The lid will help trap moisture as the leeks soften, meaning you won’t have to add as much liquid later on.
2. Once the vegetables are soft, add the potatoes. Stir well, then deglaze the pan with the stock. Bring to a gentle simmer, then reduce the heat and let it cook until the potatoes are soft.
3. While the soup is simmering, finely shred the green leek tops and, when the potatoes are ready, stir in the macadamia nut milk and the shredded greens. Let the greens cook for about 5 minutes before blitzing the soup until super smooth. Add the soup back to the pan and season with the lemon juice, and extra salt if it needs it.
4. For the dressing, add all the ingredients to a small food processor and blitz until roughly chopped and a little saucy.
5. Serve the soup topped with lashings of the dressing. My favourite way to serve these is with my potato doughnuts, but toasted sourdough is also lovely.

This is an edited extract from Plant to Plate by Gaz Oakley (Quadrille, RRP $49.99). Photography by Tom Kong with Gaz Oakley, Oliver Biggs and Matthew Williams.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.