There is nothing like curling up with a warm bowl (or two) of soup and some homemade bread when the weather is cold.

Temperatures dropped yesterday so I finally dusted off my soup cookbook and made Barefoot Contessa’s Roasted Potato Leek soup. I’ve made this several different times, but this time I decided to change it up a bit. There was no arugula at the store so I substituted fresh rosemary instead. I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out, but it was delicious.

The recipe is a little time consuming since you have to roasted the potatoes and leeks for about an hour before hand, but it’s so worth it.

Roasted Potato Leek soup
adapted from the Food Network, Barefoot Contessa

• 2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch chunks
• 3 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts, cleaned of all sand (4 leeks)
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons rosemary
• 1/2 cup dry white wine, plus extra for serving
• 6 to 7 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock for vegetarians)
• 3/4 cup heavy cream (I used milk, cut down the calories a bit)
• 8 ounces creme fraiche
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnish

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Combine the potatoes and leeks on a sheet pan in a single layer. Add the olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and toss to coat the vegetables evenly. Roast for 40 to 45 minutes, turning them with a spatula a few times during cooking, until very tender. Remove the pan from the oven and place over 2 burners. Stir in the wine and 1 cup of the chicken stock and cook over low heat, scraping up any crispy roasted bits sticking to the pan.
In batches, transfer the roasted vegetables to a food processor fitted with the steel blade, adding the pan liquid and about 5 cups of the chicken stock to make a puree. Pour the puree into a large pot or Dutch oven. Continue to puree the vegetables in batches until they’re all done and combined in the large pot. Add enough of the remaining 1 to 2 cups of stock to make a thick soup. Add the cream, creme fraiche, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and check the seasonings.
When ready to serve, reheat the soup gently and whisk in 2 tablespoons white wine and 1/4 cup of Parmesan. Serve hot with an extra grating of Parmesan.