Kartoffelcremesuppe (creamy potato soup)
A fully puréed potato soup, silky rather than chunky, which is what separates it from Kartoffelsuppe rather than any difference in ingredients. Butter-fried croutons and a scattering of chives on top give it the crunch the soup itself does not have.
Prep15 min
Cook25 min
Servings4
Christoph's fully smooth potato soup, the plain cousin of Kartoffelsuppe, written for whichever night calls for something quieter.
Ingredients
Written for a 4 L pot
Units
Temperature
Servings
Soup
- 30 g butter rounded
- 150 g onion, chopped rounded
- 900 g floury potatoes, peeled, in 2 cm chunks rounded
- 1 L vegetable broth rounded
- 100 ml cream rounded
- to taste fine salt rounded
- to taste freshly ground white pepper rounded
- to taste freshly grated nutmeg rounded
To serve
- 60 g white bread, cut into small cubes, for croutons (optional) rounded
- 15 g butter, for frying the croutons (optional) rounded
- 10 g chives, finely sliced rounded
Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.
Method
- Melt the butter in a 4 litre pot over medium heat and sweat the onion with a pinch of salt until translucent, about 6 minutes. Do not let it colour.
- Add the potatoes and broth. Bring to a simmer, then turn down until it barely bubbles.
- Simmer 20 minutes, until a knife tip slides into a potato chunk with no resistance.
- Blend until completely smooth, in batches in a blender if working by hand. This is not the half-and-half texture of Kartoffelsuppe; take it all the way to silky.
- Stir in the cream, then season with salt, white pepper and nutmeg, more generously than feels sensible. Taste, adjust, taste again.
- Fry the bread cubes in butter over medium heat until golden on all sides, if making croutons, and drain on paper.
- Serve with croutons and chives scattered over each bowl at the table.
Method in the Thermomix
Written for a TM5 or TM6, 2.2 litre bowl.
- Onion into the dry bowl. Chop 4 sec / speed 5.
- Add the butter. Sauté 6 min / 120 °C / speed 1, measuring cup off, until translucent.
- Add the potatoes and broth. Cook 20 min / 100 °C / speed 1, measuring cup on.
- Blend until silky, working up gradually to 1 min / speed 9. This is a full purée, not the partial blend of Kartoffelsuppe.
- Add the cream, salt, white pepper and nutmeg. Mix 10 sec / speed 3. Taste through the lid and correct; it takes more seasoning than expected.
- Fry the croutons separately in a pan; the machine has no way to give them any colour.
Notes
- This is not Kartoffelsuppe. That soup keeps half its texture in chunks on purpose; this one is meant to be entirely smooth, and the two should not taste interchangeable even though the ingredient lists overlap.
- Croutons fried just before serving stay crisp longest; made ahead and reheated, they turn soft in the steam off the soup.
- It thickens overnight in the fridge. Loosen with a splash of broth when reheating, added a little at a time so the soup does not end up thin.
- A swirl of cream or a few drops of good oil on top, just before the chives go on, gives it a restaurant finish for very little extra work.
Ingredient substitutions
- Cream can be swapped for crème fraîche for a slight tang, or reduced for a lighter soup; the potato starch carries most of the body regardless.
- Vegetable broth keeps this vegetarian; chicken broth gives a rounder, more savoury result if that suits the table.
- Croutons can be swapped for a scattering of crispy fried bacon or a few toasted pumpkin seeds for a different kind of crunch.
- For a vegan version, use oil instead of butter throughout and oat cream instead of dairy cream; the texture holds up well either way.
From Christoph Mayer