Winter Sausage and Leek Soup

We first encountered this recipe because, on a walk through the produce section of a grocery store, we saw a stack of simply irresistible leeks. We had never before cooked with leeks, had only the vaguest sense of the sort of recipe for which they would be appropriate, but were convinced that leeks that beautiful had to be worth the effort of finding the recipe and preparing the dish. This is the recipe we found.

As much as we like the White Bean Chowder, this soup is probably our first choice for cold weather dining. It probably accounts for the tone of ambiguity in our voices when we note that "Lo, our winter is over."

Betty suggests that you can substitute any "good-quality cooked sausage" for the kielbasa, but we've never thought an experiment worth the risk. She also suggests serving the soup with Whole Wheat Toast Points (triangles of whole wheat bread which have been sautéed in butter and patted dry), which sounds like a terrific idea but a little too "too" for our tastes. We lean more toward a whole loaf of freshly baked bread, say, a Sourdough Rye or Myrtle Allen's Brown Bread.

1. Cut 6 thin slices from the sausage (they'll be used later for a garnish), and cut the rest into small chunks.
   
   
2. Melt the butter in a large, heavy saucepan. Add the sausage and cook over a moderate heat, stirring regularly, for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the 6 slices and reserve.
   
   
3. Add the leeks to the diced sausage, and continue cooking for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Sprinkle the dill over the mixture. Add the stock, and bring the soup to a simmer. Simmer for 25 to 30 minutes.
   
   
4. Remove the soup from the heat and puree it in a blender. Return it to the pan, over a low heat. Stir in the cream. When it has warmed, begin adding the cheese, about 2 T. at a time, stirring and allowing each addition to melt before adding the next. If doing this ahead of time, here's where you stop, cool the soup, and refrigerate.
   
   
5. To serve, reheat if necessary and ladle into individual bowls or a soup tureen. Garnish with the reserved sausage slices.

6 servings   

Source: Betty Rosbottom's Cooking School Cookbook