I love love LOVE potato soup recipes, and even though I haven’t talked about it lately, I have a major thing for curry recipes. Now that the weather is turning cold freezing (I swear, I can’t feel half of my toes right now), all I can think about is soup. I’ve been craving hearty soups that fill you up and keep you warm for the rest of the night. If they’re not hearty, what the hell is the point?
When I was growing up, I hated soup. It was messy, it was sloppy and you couldn’t really chew it. I was completely baffled by soup and wondered why people were so infatuated with it. But as I got older, I discovered something wonderful: blended soups. Here was something I could enjoy! These soups had some tooth to them, something I could savor and [almost] sink my teeth into. Blended soups were thick and velvety, not drippy and watery like the soups I’d grown up with. I was in love.
I still don’t like runny soups, so I tend to throw every recipe I come across into the blender. This poses a problem, though – how do you blend soup without making a huge mess? With the advent of stick blenders came ease and convenience, but these things inevitably splatter a layer of soup across your stove and kitchen walls. Serious bummer.
We solved the problem, though. My husband fashioned a crazy simple solution out of a cardboard box that fits over our Dutch oven – he basically cut a hole in the top of the box where the blender fits in, allowing freedom of movement while still containing the mess. I should really post a photo of it one of these days. It’s magical.
The curry potato soup recipe here is a slightly modified version of the Curried Potato and Vegetable Soup from Elise’s site. I’ve changed a few things, but the biggest difference is the addition of lamb meatballs. One of my favorite flavor combos (besides peanut butter and chocolate) is lamb and yellow curry, so the first time I tried her soup, the only thing I could think was “OMG this would be incredible with lamb!”. So, I added it. It was amazing.
This soup freezes well, so make a huge amount and save some for those nights when you just don’t want to cook, or you’ve contracted one of the various plagues that get passed around this time of year. When I’m sick, this soup is my go-to meal. This stuff will cure what ails ya!
- Serves: Serves 4
- Calories: 733
- Fat: 40g
- Saturated fat: 19g
- Unsaturated fat: 18g
- Carbohydrates: 66g
- Sodium: 3338mg
- Fiber: 9g
- Protein: 29g
- Cholesterol: 114mg
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1 medium leek, chopped (use the white part)
- 1/2 yellow bell pepper, deseeded and chopped
- 1 large carrot, chopped
- 1 medium turnip or large parsnip, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard seed
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 pounds red potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 pound ground lamb, rolled into 1-inch balls, or one 14-ounce can of black beans
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels, defrosted
- 3 zucchinis, sliced in half lengthwise and cut into 1/2 inch rounds
- Melt butter in a large dutch oven over medium heat.
- Add the leek, bell pepper, carrot, turnip (or parsnip) and cumin seeds. Cook until the leeks are soft, about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the turmeric, curry powder, and mustard seeds, cooking for 1 minute more. Add garlic and cook for another 1 minute.
- Add the potatoes, stock, water, cauliflower, and salt. Increase the heat to high to bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Let simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.
- While the soup is simmering, heat a heavy skillet over medium heat. Brown meatballs on all sides (as well as you can with a ball), about 10 minutes total. Remove from heat. If using black beans instead of lamb, cook the beans in the skillet until hot.
- Add the corn and zucchinis to the soup, cooking until the vegetables are cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Remove 1/3 of the soup from the pot and set aside. Use a stick blender to purée the remainig 2/3 of the soup in the pot—be careful, this can make a huge mess!
- Pour the unblended soup back into the pot and mix well. Add meatballs or beans and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes to incorporate flavors.
- Add more salt, pepper, and curry powder to taste.
another lovely photo! Love it!
Learned to love soup in France, and my husband, from Sweden, gobbles up anything made from potatoes. The lamb meatballs sound so unusual. Can’t wait to try this recipe!
.-= Check out Alexandra
we’ve been eating a lot of soup lately! it’s frigid where i live. and i love leeks and potatoes and curry. am going to print this recipe right now!
.-= Check out Jennifer Margulis
Love potato soup, love lamb … not so hot on curry, but this does look good. Love the photo too.
I have a big pot of curried sweet potato soup with pb on my stove top as I write this! Like you, I can’t get enough of the stuff. Beautiful pic too, Stephanie!
Perfect for the cold and rainy weather we’ve been having. Beautiful photo, wish I could see the lamb meatballs :P
.-= Check out Jackie at PhamFatale.com
I’m not much of a lamb lover, but I think I will try this without!
.-= Check out Kris Bordessa
I coulod eat the picture. Love potato soup. Love curry. Love lamb. What is not to love about this recipe? Nothing.
.-= Check out Alisa Bowman
Wow–I need a copy editor to follow me around and clean up all the comments I leave on blog posts. Could vs coulod? Yikes.
.-= Check out Alisa Bowman
Hi Stephanie! We made this soup last night (my friend Sue is visiting from Portland and she and James made it while I nursed the baby and did damage control with the other kids) and it was delicious. We forgot to buy some of the ingredients so we used celery root (!) instead of cauliflower and we did not have zucchini. The lamb meatballs were amazing (we had them on the side because my oldest is a vegetarian). But, here’s what I really want readers to know: the soup was even better today after the flavors had a chance to meld. Also, I suggest making a DOUBLE RECIPE because it was so yummy we ate it all up!
Beautiful photo! It just warms me up on this chilly day! Oh yeah, I love lamb, potatoes and curry too!
.-= Check out Single Guy Ben
What a creative recipe for soup. I’ve never tried this, but I love curry and lamb as well. I think they would go well together. These pictures are great and the recipe looks easy to follow. Thanks for the idea!
-Sylvia
Citizen Signature Collection
Love the idea of this soup! I make soup at least once a week for my lunches – I just bought curry powder and was wondering what to do with it – I plan on reducing the butter by half though. I’ll let you know how it turns out!
.-= Check out Biz
YUM! This sounds fantastic, especially because it is REALLY cold right now where I live. I LOVE soups and stews in the winter months. :-)