Leek and Sweet Potato Soup with Bacon

Winter is possibly the only time of year when I actually crave soup for lunch.

Back when I was a student I used to eat super-saver cans of soup for lunch every day in an attempt to save money (and probably, in my naive mind, to lose weight).

That was a long time ago and it left me with a distinct dislike of canned soup. You know what they say: you can have too much of a good mediocre thing. These days, when and if I eat soup, I like it to be at least one of those cartons of fresh soup from the supermarket, but ideally, it is thick and hearty and homemade.

After visiting a cute little cafe in Amsterdam and having a leek and sweet potato soup there, I wanted to try and recreate my own version, but I wanted a little different texture, which is where the crunchy pieces of bacon came in. They complement the creamy, thick soup perfectly and add a little crunch and salty flavour. 

I used the slow cooker to make this soup, but it can easily be made in a large stock pot on the stove – simply reduce the cooking time to an hour. As you may have now noticed, I’m in love with making soup in the slow cooker. It is just so simple: throw all the chopped ingredients into the pot, switch it on, sit back and relax and salivate all day at the smell. (That’s the only downside of slow cooking – the tantalising smell that just begs you to open the lid. Damn you, slow cooker, and your delicious smells!)

Once all of the ingredients have been slow cooked (or boiled on the stove), then simply wizz everything up in the blender until thick and smooth. I would warn you to wait a while until the soup has cooled slightly before ladling it into the blender, or risk having thick, orange soup splattered all over your kitchen like I did the first time I made it. Not cool. I have a feeling that sploshes of leek and sweet potato soup will be being found for a long time to come.

Leek and Sweet Potato Soup with Bacon

Recipe by Julia

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

4

hours

Ingredients

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped into large chunks

• 2 leeks, rinsed and sliced

• 25g (1 tbsp + 2 tsp) butter

• 600ml (20oz) vegetable stock

• 1 tsp chilli flakes

• Ground black pepper to taste

• 4 rashers bacon

Directions

• Put all of the ingredients, except the bacon, into the slow cooker. Cook on high for 4 hours (or on low for 7-8 hours).
• Ladle cooked soup ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
• Cook the bacon rashers in a pan on medium high heat until crispy and browned.
• Ladle soup into bowls and top with crumbled pieces of bacon and a sprinkle of red chilli flakes (optional).