Potato, Leek, and Sausage Soup

I'm so sorry for my radio silence yesterday!! It was a very, very busy day! Good busyness. New couch, lots of groceries, treats and toys for the beast, a much-needed date :) This morning was very full as well, so I apologize for the late start! Today is a lovely drizzly fall day, we got lots of shopping done QUICKLY (people are all over the place today!!) and it is finally time to sit back down and do some blogging. :)

Few things are more homey and comforting on a chilly day than a bowl of soup. This simple, rustic soup is one of my favorites. It took a few tries to win the husband over, and the boys aren't quite sure about it yet, but I love it.

My Dad grew up in Houston, and is 100% Polish. (Not that you'd notice immediately) Whenever my Busha (we could never pronounce Babushka, Polish for Grandma) would come visit us, she'd bring these wonderful, coarse, deep-flavored Polish sausages from a shop in the Polish community, and we'd make this soup. Now, if you can find authentic Polish sausage, I highly recommend it. If not, your grocery store variety will do just fine!

Potato Leek Soup
Printable Recipe

1-2 lbs kielbasa or polish sausage, sliced into disks
1 Tb butter
4-5 lbs leeks
1 Tb flour
6-7 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 1/2-2 lbs red potatoes, cubed (peeled or not, I leave the peel on)
salt and pepper

Brown the sausage in a large pot over medium heat. (Want to make this vegetarian? Substitute veggie broth for the chicken broth, and melt 6 Tb butter instead of browning sausage)

Prepare the leeks: cut tough, dark leaves off, diagonally on each side.

Cut off the very end of the white part of the leek.

Remove outer layer, and slice in half, lengthwise.

Hold each half under cold running water, fanning each layer out to rinse. These things LOVE to hold dirt in there, so rinse carefully! After rising, slice up the leek.

After the sausage is well browned, remove from the pot, leaving all the fat in. (Yum!) If there wasn't much, add up to 2 Tb butter to melt.

Cook leeks in fat for a few minutes, till they soften and turn translucent. They will also decrease in volume quite a bit!

When they are well-softened, stir in the flour. Cook for about a minute, then add broth, a cup at a time, stirring after each till it starts to thicken. Add bay leaf and potatoes, bring to a boil, lower to a simmer for 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste, let sit 10-15 minutes before serving. This is one of those soups that only improves in flavor overnight!

Not much to look at, simple ingredients, but SOOO good. Deep flavors, tender leeks, scrumptious sausage... Don't be afraid of leeks. They have a VERY mild flavor, even if they look like giant scallions.

The broth thickens just a bit, and the potatoes are soft and lightly salted. The potatoes are my favorite part! This is such a warming, comforting soup. Simple and delicious. Happy Soup Season, everyone!!