Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Leek and Apple Soup

For some reason I have a big bag of apples that I haven't been eating very fast and was looking around for something to cook them into. I landed on and adapted this recipe for leek and apple soup (listed as Apfel-Porree-Suppe) on the Küchenlatein blog since it seemed like the perfect fit (although I'd have to make it again if I want to cook all my apples...). This blog not only has a huge variety within the over 1000 recipes in German, but there are almost 400 recipes in English as well.




There are a few 'firsts' to this post, the first of which being that I bought my first leek, ever. So, here's how I figured you'd prepare a leek to cook. It must have been close enough. However, for cooking into a soup next time I'd use smaller pieces (thinner or sliced lengthwise).

I do already use leek to make broth, but only when I buy those soup veggie packs that it's in. I'd never bought a leek on it's own before!
In fact, I didn't have to buy anything else for the recipe since I went with spices I already had and there was a container of broth in the freezer just waiting to be used. I didn't take it out early enough and got impatient enough that I threw it in as a block of broth as soon as it was free of the container. It melts down quickly and seems to work just fine.




Leek and Apple Soup
Homemade vegetable broth,
still frozen into it's ice cream container


Recipe for 4 servings

Ingredients:
- 1 Leek stem
- Olive oil for frying (or your choice of cooking fat)
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 1/2 tbsp Ground caraway
- 1/2 tbsp Tumeric
- 1 L Liquid (I used my 500ml of broth with 500ml of water)
- Chili pepper (depends how hot you like it)
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
- 3 Apples 
- 2 tbsp Lemon juice
- Sunflower seeds (a couple tablespoons per bowl)


Directions:

1. Wash and slice leek into rings (or half rings).

Slice it a little smaller than this!
2. Add oil to a large pot and lightly fry the leek - it should soften but not become limp.

3. Mix spices in with the leek and continue to fry until well mixed and liquid is mostly absorbed.


4. Pour in vegetable broth, stir, then bring to a boil.

5. Clean, quarter and core the apples. Make sure to drizzle lemon juice on the pieces of 1 of the apples, then set it aside. Grate the other apple pieces into the soup and simmer on low for about 10 minutes.

I'll admit, it was a lot prettier at the beginning
6. While the soup is cooking, throw the sunflower seeds into a pan on medium to medium-high heat (I don't use any oil). Watch them closely and stir frequently, they get dark pretty quick once they're started.

Toasted sunflower seeds
7. Slice the remaining apple quarters into bite-sized pieces (mine aren't really... I'd suggest something smaller) and fry in a small amount of oil or butter until browned on both sides.

Fried apple for one
8. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

9. Making sure to stir well prior to dishing out, divide soup among serving the bowls and garnish with a combination of apple and sunflower seeds.


Enjoy! 





For another first, I'm submitting this recipe to a blog carnival/festival/event called No Croutons Required. This is a perfect fit (for this recipe and for me) since not only is it a collection of (vegetarian) soup and salad recipes, but this month's theme is spice and I'm always thinking about where more spice could fit into my food!







3 comments:

  1. mmm i am hungry i want some soup to.

    ReplyDelete
  2. As a Welsh person I love leek soup, but not tried it with apples. Will do now :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll admit it, I don't know much about Wales and the Welsh-leek connection is something new to me, so thanks for your comment!
      Personally the combination appealed to me because of other tasty mixes of apples and oniony flavours I've tried.
      Give it a shot, with or without the spices.

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