Potato, Potato, Potato Soup

I enjoy using one type of ingredient in multiple varieties in one dish. I’ve used onions for this for a really long time. When I was shopping one time looking at different potatoes I remembered that what we here call ‘Bataatti’ is in fact called a ‘sweet potato’ in English. So I decided to make a soup where the main ingredients would be different potatoes.

I will be guessing at the ingredient names, since here in Finland each potato variety has a name, instead of calling them by color. (For example what you call ‘Red Potatoes’ goes by the name ‘Rosamunda’ here)

Ingredients

• 4-5 small new potatoes
• half a sweet potato
• 1-2 red potatoes
• 1 russet potato
• 1 large-ish white (‘firm’) potato
• 3-4 small carrots
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 spring onions
• 1 leek or 2-3 spring onion stalks
• ½ tsp orange/mandarin zest
• 1 tsp black pepper, ground
• 2 tsp salt
• 1-2 l water
• 50-100g butter

Wash and peel everything. Dice potatoes medium (or large if you prefer, don’t make them too small though, lest they just become mash). Chop onions and leek a bit smaller.

Put everything into a pot large enough so they fill about half of it. Cover with water. (The amount of water is not exact. Just make sure to nicely cover everything. If you happen to like more liquid-y soup, feel free to add more water, just season according to amount of water).

Bring to boil, add zest. Season with black pepper and salt to taste. Add butter. The more butter you add, the more silky and shiny the soup will be (and of course the taste). Don’t use too much butter though, but for a large (3-4 l) amount of water, feel free to use 200g of butter if you’re not that concerned about health 😉

Bring to boil again and cook on medium to high heat for 5 – 10 minutes. Taste and add pepper/salt if needed. Close cover, bring heat down and let simmer for at least 30 min. The bigger the diced potatoes are, the longer the time to simmer. I cooked mine for 2 hours, maybe a bit more. The sweet potato will be quite a mash in the end, but it adds another texture and smoothness to the soup so it’s all good.

Add to bowls and garnish with a pinch of chives. Serve with fresh salad.

Modification

If you’re already given up on being healthy on this dish, add 2 dl of heavy cream to the soup to the end of the simmer time. Let simmer for only about 5 minutes from adding cream.