Pleasing Parsley Soup - Salubriously seasoned with naughty nutmeg.

This was a rather nice, yet humble dinner which Kylie and I ate last night. It's the perfect soup for lunchtimes as well, very fresh and would most likely keep quite pleasantly, and could be "souped up" for any occasion with the addition of some fried chorizo or toasted croutons with creamy melted emmental or some similar cheese.




Ingredients, to serve two people:
2 medium leeks, washed and top-and tailed, finely sliced
200 g of peeled potatoes, which is about two medium ones
500 ml vegetable stock
40 g butter
120 g fresh parsley. This is quite a lot, but you'll use the stalks as well, so do not despair, two of the "supermarket" potted ones or a few supermarket sized bags should do you.
70 ml of crème fraîche
1/3 of a nutmeg, grated. Its probably easier to use ready grated nutmeg, about a level teaspoon, unless you like grating such small things and it makes you feel like a giant grating a coconut.

Method: Separate the stalks of your parsley from the leaves. There's no need to be too particular about this, its all going to end up in the same thing, just be rough and ready. Chop half the leaves together with all the stalks. Meanwhile, cook your leeks in the butter in your pan, until they're nicely soft and fragrant, approximately 5 minutes. Then put in your potatoes, having diced them roughly beforehand and your chopped parsley.
Reserve your unchopped leaves for later. Boil, then simmer for about 15 minutes, then whack in your leaves, simmer for a couple more minutes, then take it off the heat. Wait for it to cool down a bit (or you will break your blender like i did by cracking it) and then blend it thoroughly.

Reheat the soup, stirring in 50 ml of the crème fraîche and the nutmeg. Serve in warm bowls and stir in a tiny bit more crème fraîche in a little swirl so it looks pretty.

This is quite creamy and quite nutmeg-gy, so if you're not so keen on those flavours, possibly halve the above quantities.