In my early 20s, when I was chef’s apprentice, one of the first cookbooks I owned was Paul Bocuse’s French Cooking, a hardcover tome first published in English in 1977. As a young professional cook, I was completely mesmerized by the recipes in that book, especially one called la soupe aux truffes Elysée.
With regard to its history, in 1975, then French president Valéry Giscard D’Estaing promoted Bocuse to Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur, the highest decoration in France.
For that event, Bocuse was asked to prepare a special meal for those attending and la soupe aux truffes Elysée (truffle soup Elysée, in English) was one of the dishes he created for it.
To make it, ovenproof soup bowls are filled with finely diced vegetables, slices of black truffle and foie gras, and strong consommé. The soup is topped with puff pastry and baked, until the pastry has puffed and is rich golden.
It’s a spectacularly decadent soup and I’ve made it a few times, but it is time-consuming to prepare and, with truffles and foie gras, expensive. Over the years, though, I’ve learned that other types of more humble yet still decadent and delicious soups can also be topped with a golden dome of puff pastry.
For example, many years ago I dined at Bistro Jeanty (bistrojeanty.com) in Yountville, a town located in California’s Napa Valley. This well-established eatery is renowned for a splendid tomato soup they make that’s baked in bowls topped with a dome of puff pastry, which I tried and very much enjoyed.
Having it, I was inspired to make my own version of that soup at home and also to try topping other types of soup with puff pastry. Recently, as you’ll see by today’s recipe, one of those other soups was leek and potato.
To prepare it, you make a puréed leek and potato soup, cool it and refrigerate it until ready to top it with the pastry. You can make the soup to that point a day in advance.
When ready to serve, pour the cold soup into ovenproof soup bowls, such as the onion soup bowls I used. The soups are then topped with nuggets of Stilton cheese (or other blue cheese) and some chopped parsley. The rim of each bowl is brushed with beaten egg, and then a piece of rolled-out puff pastry is draped over each bowl, covering the soup.
The top of the pastry is brushed with beaten egg, and then the soups are baked in a hot oven until the pastry is puffed and golden, and the leek and potato soup in the bowls is piping hot again.
To eat it, you break through the pastry with a soup spoon, scoop up the soup and some of that pastry, and dig into a very rich and tasty combination.
To make a festive three-course lunch or dinner, served a green salad before having the soup, and a dessert after enjoying it, perhaps some holiday cookies or other sweet treat you buy from your favourite local bakery.
Leek and Potato Soup with Puff Pastry and Stilton
Silky leek and potato soup is even more divine when topped with tangy nuggets of blue cheese and a golden dome of puff pastry.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: About 25 minutes
Makes: four servings
3 Tbsp butter or olive oil
2 cups thinly sliced leeks, white and pale green parts only (see Note 1)
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 large garlic clove, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 tsp dried thyme
4 cups chicken stock (divided)
• a few splashes Worcestershire sauce
2 cups yellow-fleshed potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2- to 3/4-inch cubes (see Note)
1/2 cup half and half (10 per cent) cream
• salt and ground white pepper, to taste
1/2 (397 gram) pkg. frozen puff pastry, thawed (see Note 2 and Eric’s options)
100 grams Stilton or other blue cheese, pulled into small nuggets, or to taste (see Eric options)
2 Tbsp coarsely chopped parsley
Melt butter (or heat oil) in a pot set over medium heat (my pot was eight inches wide, and six inches tall). Add leeks and cook until softened, about five minutes. Stir in the flour, garlic and thyme and cook one to two minutes more.
Mix in 1/2 cup of the stock. When mixture becomes very thick, slowly stir in rest of the stock and Worcestershire sauce. Add the potatoes and bring the soup to a gentle simmer. Gently simmer soup 15 minutes, or until potatoes are very tender.
Purée the soup in a food processor or blender, or right in the pot with an immersion (hand) blender. Mix in the cream, and then taste and season the soup with salt and pepper, as needed.
Cool the soup to room temperature, and then cover and refrigerate it until ready to top with the puff pastry and bake. Soup can be made to this point a day advance.
When ready to serve the soup, set puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface and gently roll into a 10-inch square. Cut the rolled out puff pastry into four, five-inch squares.
Preheat oven to 450 F. Set four, 2-cup capacity, 4-inch wide, onion soup bowls or other ovenproof soup bowls on a baking sheet. Pour 1 1/2 cups or so of cold soup into each bowl. Now set some nuggets of cheese and chopped parsley on each soup.
Brush the rim of each soup bowl with beaten egg. Drape a piece of puff pastry over each bowl and gently press it around the edges to help it adhere. Bake the bowls of soup for 20 minutes, or until the pastry is puffed and deep golden, and the soup is piping hot.
Note 1: One very large, or two small to medium, leeks, should yield enough of the white and pale greens parts needed for this recipe. Wash and dry them well before slicing and using them. Save the dark green bits of leek for stock. Two medium to large, yellow-fleshed potatoes, should yield the cubed amount needed here.
Note 2: I used Tenderflake brand puff pastry, which is sold frozen at most grocery stores. A 397-gram package of it contains two sections of puff pastry. I pulled off one of the sections, and then thawed that piece of pastry and used it for this recipe. I wrapped and froze the other section of puff pastry to thaw and use at another time. If desired, you could roll out the pastry needed for this recipe an hour or so in advance, cut it into squares, set them on a baking sheet, cover them, and refrigerate them until needed for the soup.
Eric’s options: If you don’t care for blue cheese, top each bowl of soup with small cubes of aged white cheddar cheese, to taste. Or simply omit the cheese from the recipe.
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
