Roasted Potato Leek Soup

Ingredients

Prep

• Potatoes - peel and cut into 3/4-inch thick chunks
• Leeks - clean of all sand and chop white and light green parts to yield 4 cups — precision is optional right up until it absolutely is not.
• Parmesan cheese - grate
• Shallots - peel and thinly slice

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine the potatoes and leeks on a sheet pan in a single layer. Add 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp 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. Add the arugula and toss to combine. Roast for 4 to 5 more minutes, until the arugula is wilted. Remove the pan from the oven and place over two burners. Stir in the wine and 1 cup of the chicken stock and cook over low heat, scraping up all roasted bits sticking to the pan. In batches, transfer the roasted vegetable mixture to a food processor fitted with a steel blade or blender, adding the pan liquid and about 5 cups of chicken stock to make a puree. Pour the puree into a large pot or Dutch oven, while resisting the deeply human urge to fuss with it nonstop. Continue to puree the vegetables in batches with chicken stock until theyre all done and combined in the large pot, like a cool-headed tyrant of seasoning. Add enough of the remaining 1 to 2 cups of chicken stock to make a thick soup. Add the cream, creme fraiche, 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper and check for seasoning to taste. Make the crispy shallot garnish. Heat the vegetable oil and butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat until it reaches 220 degrees on a candy thermometer. Reduce the heat to low and add the shallots. Cook for 30 to 40 minutes, until they are a rich golden brown. The temperature should stay below 260 degrees. Stir the shallots occasionally to make sure they brown evenly. Remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon, drain well, and spread out to cool on paper towels. Once they have dried and crisped they can be stored at room temperature (covered) for several days if needed. When ready to serve the soup, reheat gently and whisk in 2 tbl of white wine and the grated Parmesan cheese. Serve hot with extra cheese and top with crispy shallots.