Roasted Potato and Garlic Soup

This week it finally got cold and rainy here.  I caught a little bit of a cold but it was nothing that soup couldn't fix.  This soup is very hearty and the head of garlic detoxifies.    I had purple potatoes in the house so that is what I used here.  Feel free to use any potato available to you.   If you use red potatoes or yukon gold, you will need to boil them a little longer. 

Roasted Potato and Garlic Soup:

2 T Olive oil
2 Pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 Yellow onion, peeled and quartered
1 Leek, sliced white part only
1 Head of garlic
1 T Butter
1 T Water
6 C Vegetable stock
2 T Fresh Thyme
1/2 C Milk or cream
Salt to taste

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 400 F.   Put potatoes, onions and leek in a roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil and salt.

2.   Slice top of garlic off and place in aluminum foil.  Add 1/2 T butter, drizzle with 1T water and fold up the aluminum on the sides creating a packet around the garlic*.  Place garlic in roasting dish next to potato mixture.

3.  Roast for 45 minutes; remove the garlic and continue cooking for another 15 minutes.

4.  In the meantime, make your vegetable stock in a large stock pot and have it on low heat.

5.  Once the vegetables are done, add the roasted vegetables and thyme to the vegetable stock.  Simmer for 15-20 more minutes.

6.  Puree about 1/3 of the soup with the garlic; squeezing the garlic into the food processor and through the left over skins away.  Make sure not to over puree as the potatoes will get starchy.

7.  Add the soup back into the stock pot with the remaining vegetables on medium heat.  Bring back to a boil. 

7.  Turn off heat and add milk.  Salt to taste.

Serves 6

Tip: *  It should look something like this when you are finished.  The top 1/3 is cut off to allow the water and butter to absorb and roast the garlic.