How to Make the Alison Roman Potato Leek Soup Recipe At Home
If you don’t know about Alison Roman, you need to. Let’s dish about this delightful foodie. This multi-talented California native is known for her viral recipes. Which came to prominence during the lockdowns of 2020.
Her recipes were titled simply, with a hashtag at the beginning. Recipes like, #thecookies and #thestew became all the rage as people were looking for things to do and cook at home. Alison’s #thepasta was named the most popular dish of 2020 by The New York Times.
In addition to her delicious hashtags, Alison has been a senior food writer for Bon Appétit and Buzzfeed Food. She’s also honed her skills as a chef at Sona in Los Angeles, Quince in San Francisco, and Milk Bar in New York City.
If you peruse the cookbook section of any book retailer, you’ll find her there too. Her hashtags are everywhere. Ms. Roman has a YouTube channel and a big social media presence. She’s basically the millennial’s answer to Martha Stewart.
Alison could be opined upon all day. But for now let’s get down to the potato soup (#thepotatoleeksoup).
How To Make The Alison Roman Potato Leek Soup Recipe At Home
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil or unsalted butter
- 2 pounds of waxy potatoes such as Yukon
- 2 leeks (the whole thing) chopped and rinsed
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 1 large bunch of leafy greens, like kale
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- 4 scallions, thinly sliced
- 1 cup of dill, chopped
Directions
- Heat the olive oil (or butter) in a large heavy bottomed pot, over a medium heat. Add the potatoes and leeks, season with salt and pepper.
- Cook, stirring occasionally until the leeks are bright green and have begun to sweat, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the vegetable broth (or bullion) and bring to a simmer; simmer until the liquid has reduced a bit and the potatoes are basically falling apart (about 30 to 40 minutes).
- With a wooden spoon (or something like that) smush the potatoes so they fall apart even more (this will thicken the soup, turn it creamy, and make the potatoes a nice chunky texture).
- Add the greens, stirring to wilt in the soup.
- Add the sour cream and vinegar and simmer another minute or so (adding the sour cream later in the cooking process will keep a fresher sour cream flavor and prevent curdling), season with salt and pepper.
- Ladle the soup into a bowl and top with more sour cream (if you want), scatter the bowl with the scallions and dill (#lotsofdill), grind some black pepper.
Feel free to use spinach, Swiss chard, or any other leafy greens. Before the sour cream is added, the soup is actually vegan. If you’d like to keep it that way, use vegan sour cream.
For a non-vegan twist, use chicken stock in place of vegetable broth. You can also replace the olive oil with butter. Alison also suggests topping the soup with smoked trout, sardines, or salmon. Bacon bits, croutons, and any other topping can be added to make the soup your own. However, she basically demands that you don’t skip the dill.
What’s The Deal With The Dill?
Alison Roman has a love of dill. You’d be hard pressed to find one of her recipes where dill was not included. Her use of dill reads like Bubba and the shrimp:
- Dilly bean stew
- potatoes with dill
- Chicken soup with celery and dill
- eggplant with dill
- salmon with dill
- matzo ball soup with dill
- pistachio salad with dill
- roasted beets with dill
The list goes on, but the point is the lady adores dill. She even quipped about putting, “she’s here for the dill”, on her tombstone. So what is this magical plant Alison uses like everyone else uses salt and pepper?
Dill is an annual herb that is in the same family (apiaceae) as celery. It grows best in a cooler environment. Hence, its popularity in European countries like Poland and Russia.
Dill pairs with almost anything because of its fresh aromatic flavor. It’s savory, earthy, and just a tad bit tangy. The herb has the ability not only to add flavor, but to draw out the other flavors in the food it’s used in.
It’s loaded with vitamin C, A, B, and antioxidants that can aid in fighting cancer. Antibacterial properties are also present in dill, that which has been shown to fight staph, and the threadlike leaves, in addition to being delicious, have been used for medicinal purposes as well:
- stomach pain
- gas
- colic in babies
- bad breath
- sore throats
- menstrual cramp
- arthritis
- respiratory issues
Dill can be made into tea. The oils can also be extracted for use in treating what ails you.
What The Heck Is A Waxy Potato?
Alison specifies the use of a “waxy” potato in this recipe. A potato is a potato, you may be saying. Well, if you’ve ever made mashed potatoes that were so gummy you could paper walls with them, you know there’s a difference.
Waxy potatoes are low in starch and high in water content. Some waxy potatoes are:
- new potatoes
- pee wee
- red bliss
- fingerlings
- creamers
These potatoes hold their shape when boiled or baked. So it makes them great for dishes like potato salad, gratin, roasted potatoes, stews and soups. However, if you want your soup puréed, use floury potatoes. Floury spuds have more starch than water and fall apart easily. Some floury potatoes are:
- russet
- Idaho
- Norkotah
- long white
There are also “all purpose” potatoes. Those potatoes that are there for you no matter what. They have more of a balanced water:starch ratio. These include:
- Yukon gold
- purple majesty
- Peruvian blue
- superior
No matter what type of potato you choose for your recipe, all have great health benefits. Potatoes are high in vitamin C, B6, fiber, and potassium.
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