Leek potatotto

What an earth is a leek potatotto?? Well, it is nothing but a leek and potato stew made in style of a risotto, the potato cubes substituting the rice. I just wanted to be a little bit whimsical with the naming of the dish, hopefully I haven't repelled any readers because of it. This is a lovely basic dish that renews the traditional and functional leek and potato pairing, and it's easy to make as well. From my description you will notice that the method is very much the same as making a risotto.

Only quite basic ingredients are needed, and this is how it goes:

3 shallots

3 garlic cloves

2 leeks

4 spring onions

1tbsp olive oil

750g new potatoes

25g butter

1dl dry cider

1l vegetable stock

Fresh parsley

1½tsp salt

1tsp black pepper

½tsp paprika

125g smoky cheddar

Chop the shallots, garlic cloves, leeks and spring onions finely. Start cooking them at medium heat in olive oil. Prepare one litre of warm vegetable stock, some of the parsley can already be added to the stock.

Dice the new potatoes into very small cubes (about 6-8mm per side), peel them only, if the skin is thick. Add the butter to the pan once the other components are cooked soft. Once the butter has melted, add the potato cubes. Keep cooking for a further five minutes and then add the cider. Let it evaporate and add a few ladles of the warm vegetable stock. Keep simmering slowly under the lid and make vegetable stock additions whenever the contents threaten to get too dry, also stir often.

Cook until the potatoes are fully cooked and the flavour has developed nicely. Season with some more fresh parsley, salt, black pepper and paprika, also add the smoky cheddar towards the end.

Serve warm and enjoy! This is real comfort food for me!

Your VegHog