Vegetable Cream Soups

Most cream soups are vegetable soups based on a single vegetable, with perhaps a leek or an onion in the background. Much of the time the soup is pureed until smooth and then some of the vegetable or just a part of it, such as asparagus tips, is added just before serving. Tiny croutons also make an attractive garnish and provide crunch.

Traditional cream soups are made by thickening broth or milk with flour, simmering the mixture with the vegetable, pureeing and straining, and then finishing with cream. When the soup is pureed, the cream can be left out, but even a small amount gives a soup a more luxurious taste. Another method, which works for almost any vegetable and is what I use here, is to use a basic leek and potato soup as a base for other vegetables. The vegetables—the leek, potato, and the third vegetable—can be left whole, in pieces, or pureed. Cold pureed leek and potato soup is vichyssoise.