Here's a light, easy soup we recently enjoyed. It has all the fresh, delicate flavor of green leeks, with some garlic to punch it up. We added yogurt at the end and blended the soup smooth - the yogurt gave it a lovely tangy taste.
Add some fresh crusty bread, new butter, and a green salad - maybe some good cheese too - and you have yourself a light meal.
Creamy Leek and Yogurt Soup
about 1 1/2 quarts
2 large leeks
6 large cloves of garlic
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 cup white wine
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup plain yogurt
Cut the leeks in half lengthwise and wash thoroughly, making sure to get rid of all the sand and grit. Cut into half moons. Smash or mince the garlic cloves. Melt the butter in a heavy stockpot over medium heat. Saute the leeks and garlic very slowly, never letting them brown or burn. Cook until the leeks are nearly translucent - about 10 minutes.
Add the white wine and pepper and let cook for about five minutes, then add the broth and turn the heat to a simmer. Simmer for 45-60 minutes.
Puree in a blender - hold the lid down with a folded towel or you will end up with splattered soup all over the kitchen! Puree in two batches, adding half a cup of yogurt into each. Eat slightly cool like this, or return to the pan and warm very gently over low heat - do not let boil.
(Image: Faith Durand)
Re-edited from post originally published on June 13, 2007
My Staple Summer Cocktail Recipe: Campari & IPA Spritzer
Easy Pickle Recipe: Cucumber Kimchi Bites
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Bacsac Bacsquare 04...
Dirty Little Secrets of Tidy Families
Hillary & Michael's Refined Roost
do you think omitting the wine would be a mistake? If I'm cooking for people who don't drink, could this be done without the wine?
Sounds great!
amyd - if alcohol is the issue, it all will simmer off in the cooking, just leaving the flavor. If there's other reasons for wine-free cooking, yes, I suppose it could be left out but I would suggest adding a few squeezes of lemon near the end of cooking to brighten it up.
This is maybe a cooking 101 question, but how much of the leek do you use? Even the darker green part?
moema - yes, I used all of the leeks in this one.
Yum, I just made this for dinner. The tang of the yogurt works really well with the leeks and garlic. I recommend an immersion blender for pureeing soups, no messy transfer to and from a traditional blender, and often no need to puree multiple batches.
I found this a tad bit bland. I had to add more pepper and a bit of salt. Also, perhaps I cooked the leeks too long, but the color of my soup was quite a bit darker green! Still it was tasty after the adjustments.