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Recipe: Cucumber vichyssoise

Cucumber vishyssoise soup.
(Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)
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Total time: 1 hour, 10 minutes, plus chilling time for the soup

Servings: This makes a scant 2 quarts soup

Note: This recipe calls for the use of a chinois, a very fine strainer; chinois are available at cooking and restaurant supply stores, as well as online. This recipe also calls for a juicer; juicers are generally available at home and kitchen supply stores, as well as online (the Test Kitchen tested the recipe using a blender instead of a juicer, and passed the purée through a strainer). Keller suggests serving the soup garnished with basil crème fraîche or cherry tomato confit.

1/2 cup chopped shallots, cut into large dice

1/2 cup chopped leeks, cut into large dice

1 cup chopped onions, cut into large dice

1 tablespoon butter

2 1/2 cups peeled, chopped baking potatoes, cut into large dice

1 quart water, or as needed

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

3 tablespoons crème fraîche

2 cucumbers

3 tablespoons mint leaves

Salt

1. In a large pot, sweat the shallots, leeks and onions in butter until completely soft. Add the diced potatoes and enough water to cover. Bring the water to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender. Add the cream and simmer an additional 20 minutes.

2. Transfer the soup in three batches to a blender and purée, adding one tablespoon of crème fraîche to each batch. Once puréed, pass the soup base through a fine chinois into a bowl, then cover and refrigerate until chilled.

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3. Taste each cucumber to ensure that there is no bitter flavor. Cut the cucumbers into chunks, combine with mint leaves and then pass through a juicer; you should have at least 1½ cups juice (save any extra for another use). When the soup base is completely chilled, combine it with the 1½ cups cucumber juice and season to taste.

Each of 8 servings: 233 calories; 3 grams protein; 14 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 19 grams fat; 12 grams saturated fat; 68 mg cholesterol; 2 grams sugar; 27 mg sodium.

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