Garlic & Potato Soup

Is there anything more comforting on a cold, wintry day than a steaming bowl of freshly made soup? The answer, of course, is no - so long as it contains a generous dose of garlic, which not only infuses this potato soup with a comforting flavour but also gives your immune system a valuable boost at this time of year. While two bulbs may sound like a lot of garlic, once the finely chopped cloves have been gently cooked for 45 minutes, the resulting flavour is surprisingly mellow. A food processor makes prepping the chopped garlic and onion for this soup a cinch, but if you don't have access to one, try our Garlic Twist Cross Cutter to speed things up.

Ingredients for 4

• 2 bulbs garlic, cloves peeled and chopped
• 1 onion (approximately 70g), finely chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil - plus extra to serve
• 40g butter
• 600g floury potatoes, such as King Edward or Maris Piper
• 1 litre stock - chicken or vegetable stock both work well
• 50g Greek yoghurt
• Fresh thyme leaves
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Sea-salt to taste

Method

1. Heat the olive oil and half the butter (20g) in a saucepan over a low heat, adding the chopped garlic and onion once the butter has melted. Sauté gently for around 15 minutes, until the onion has softened, stirring regularly so that the garlic doesn't burn.
2. Add the peeled and roughly chopped potatoes and stock. Bring to boiling point, then reduce heat to let the soup simmer for around half an hour.
3. Stir in the yoghurt and blitz soup in a blender (or with a stick-blender). Season if necessary.
4. Melt the remaining 20g butter in a small pan and fry a few thyme leaves until crispy.
5. Serve soup with the thyme mixture. Or drizzle soup with some extra virgin olive oil and fresh thyme leaves to garnish, accompanied by some crusty bread.