Potato leek soup

I brought this soup in to work to share with my coworkers once a year or two ago and people are still talking about how good it was. It is so simple but it is really comforting. You can serve this completely smooth or you can serve it a little chunky like I do, both ways are delicious. This is great on its own or you can top it with cheese, green onions, hot sauce, tomato, and/or bacon if you're not vegetarian.

Ingredients:

1 leek, white and very light green parts only, sliced in half moons
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium (or 1 extra large) potato, peeled and cubed
3-4 cups veggie stock
1 ounce cream cheese
pepper

Directions:

In a large pot, combine leek, butter, and olive oil and cook over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, or until the leek is very tender but before it browns. Add cubed potato and add just enough stock to cover the potatoes by about a 1/4 inch (mine took a little more than 3 cups). Bring to a gentle boil and cook for about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. If you want your soup chunky, remove about a 1/3 of the potatoes from the pot after 7-8 minutes (or until they are fork tender but not mushy). Continue boiling the rest of the potatoes for another 10-15 minutes, or until they are very soft and mushy. Using an immersion blender, blend the mushy potatoes until they are smooth. Stir to get everything off the bottom and then add the cream cheese, stirring well to incorporate. Add the reserved potatoes back in and stir. If it is thicker than you'd like, add a bit more stock until you have your desired consistency. Season with pepper and let cook for about 1 more minute just to heat everything through. Serve alone or with cheese, hot sauce, green onion, etc.