If you are looking for a frugal dinner option, a foraged three-cornered leek soup will do you well! It’s a zingy, sharp and moreish broth with creamy undertones – delicious.
It is not often that I share foraged recipes here; however, I hit the jackpot the other day. I was weeding in the very back corner of my garden when I noticed a patch of white flowers that I didn’t recognise. A quick google told me that they were three-cornered leek.
Three-cornered leek is from the garlic and onion family. It’s considered invasive in the U.K., so foraging of it is heavily encouraged. When I saw the big patch in my garden, I knew it would end up in my kitchen!
All parts of the three-cornered leek are edible, and it has a taste similar to spring onion (which can be substituted in this dish if you can’t find any!). You can also use it in my Three Cornered Leek and Ricotta Pasta (15 Minute Creamy Pasta).
The key to checking whether you have found three-cornered leek is by looking at the flowers – they should be white with green lines running down to the centre.
Ingredients, Substitutions and Variations
- Butter – this soup is best started with butter! But if necessary, you could switch for olive oil.
- Onion, celery, potato – these veg provide a nice flavourful base for your soup, along with thickness from the potato. You could also add a carrot and a couple of cloves of garlic.
- White wine – optional.
- Vegetable stock – or use one litre of water and a good vegetable stock cube.
- Three-cornered leek – the key ingredient! You’ll need a nice big bunch.
- Double cream – you could substitute for single cream.
If you love soup, why not try these 25+ of the Best Easy Soup Recipes out!
Top Tips
- Prepping your three-cornered leeks To pick your leeks, pull the whole thing from the ground – like if you were pulling a spring onion. Give them a wash and trim the bottom bulb and top flowers off. Discard any brown leaves.
- For a thicker soup Add more potato. This uses just one for a fairly light and liquid soup.
- For a chunkier soup If you like your soup chunky, use a potato masher to crush the potatoes lightly rather than a blender.
Three-Cornered Leek Soup
Ingredients
- 20 grams butter
- 1 onion
- 2 sticks celery
- 1 potato
- 1 small glass white wine
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- 250 grams three-cornered leek
- 80 ml double cream
Instructions
- Put a large saucepan on a medium heat. Add the butter and melt.
- Peel and finely chop the onion. Slice the celery. Chop the potato into 1cm chunks (no need to peel). Add the onion, celery and potato to the saucepan.
- Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, then add the white wine.
- When the wine has reduced by half, add the stock and bring to a simmer. Cook for around 15 minutes, until the potatoes have softened.
- Finely slice the three-cornered leeks and add to the pan. Simmer for 3 more minutes then blend until smooth.
- Taste then season with salt and pepper as needed. Add the cream, stir well and serve.
More delicious soup recipes:
- Celery Soup
- Simple Watercress Soup
- Roasted Squash Soup
- Curried Lentil Soup
- Cauliflower Cheese Soup
- Chilled Beetroot Soup
- Thai Noodle Soup
- Leek and Chorizo Soup
- Carrot and Ginger Soup
- Parsnip and Chestnut Soup
- Leek and Ricotta Soup
- Red Leicester and Broccoli Soup
- Potato Soup
