Serves 4-6
Takes between 30 and 45 min
What to do with the filling you have left over — and carrying over our sneaky Kale!
Ingredients
• 2 cups leftover pierogi filling ( I honestly did not measure, I just scooped spoonfuls in and kept stirring until it seemed not too thick, not too watery.)
• 3 leeks, white and light green parts only, sliced
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil (I like Graza)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth ( I used Veggie Better than Bouillon)
• ½ cup full-fat coconut milk (or heavy cream)
• 1 yukon gold potato, diced small (optional, for a chunkier soup)
• Salt and white pepper to taste
• Fresh chives and/or plain greek yogurt/sour cream for topping (optional)
Instructions
1. Slice your leeks and soak them in cold water for a few minutes — they hide dirt between their layers. Lift them out and pat them dry.
2. Melt butter in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add the leeks and olive oil then cook low and slow for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until very soft and silky. Add the garlic in the last 2 minutes.
3. Pour in the broth and bring to a gentle simmer. If you want a chunkier soup, add the diced potato now and cook until fork-tender, about 15 minutes.
4. Add the pierogi filling one big spoonful at a time, whisking as you go so it dissolves smoothly into the broth. Simmer together for 5-10 minutes.
5. Use an immersion blender to blend until silky smooth — or skip this step, or blend only half, if you prefer texture.
6. Stir in the coconut milk and bring back to a gentle simmer. Taste before adding salt — your filling is already seasoned. Finish with white pepper.
7. Ladle into bowls and top with chives and a swirl of plain greek yogurt or sour cream if you like.
Notes
Your pierogi filling is doing double duty here — it’s the flavor base and the thickener, so this comes together faster than a traditional potato leek soup. If the soup gets too thick, splash in more broth. Too thin, simmer uncovered for a few extra minutes.
Personally, I love leftovers. If something was delicious, it will be delicious again. Sadly, I’m in the minority, at least in my home. My son and husband will claim that they will eat the leftovers, but it’s moans and groans when I suggest eating something that we already have eaten in the week.
I take that as a compliment that they prefer I cook for them every day, but damn if I did the waste would be exponential.
Thankfully, I was inspired by Sara Dickerman whose book, Secrets of Great Second Meals reminded me that I can consider the contents of something I cooked before and make them something new. That’s where this idea was born.
I had a lot of potatoes on hand the day I made the pierogis. I’ll be honest, I measure-ish when I’m cooking. So, because of the amount of potatoes I made, there was a lot of filling leftover after I filled the dough.
I didn’t want it to go to waste, but I also didn’t want to make pierogi dough again from scratch, cause it’s hard work!
So, I thought about how there are already potatoes in it, and I remembered that I got fresh leeks with the intention of finishing the bag of potatoes. Thus, Pierogi Filling Potato Leek Soup was born.
Honestly, this came together so well, I’d consider making the pierogi filling just for this. The season used in the pierogi filling seasoned the entire soup. I hardly had to add salt or pepper. The coconut milk didn’t add too much conconut flavor, just a creamy texture that complemented the mascarpone so well resulting in a luscious, dare I say, sexy soup.
This is a sexy soup, and if you don’t believe me. Make pierogis, and then make this soup the next day.
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