"I loved this dish but made a few revisions to make it a bit less guilty without sacrificing flavor. I used half and half instead of cream, and also roasted 4 cloves of garlic in their own skins with the potatoes and leeks (I peeled the garlic cloves and added them to the puree after roasting - gave depth to the flavor. Also, instead of heaping on so much cheese at the end, I put reggiano-parmasean rinds to the soup and let them sit submerged in the hot pot for a few hours before serving; this added the rich, nutty dimension to the dish cheese would have without adding all the extra fat/calories. Also, substituted crumbled baked bacon bits at the end (instead of deep-frying shallots). Because the cheese rinds and bacon are salty themselves, I halved the salt from the recipe from 2 to 1 teaspoon. It was delicious and elegant. Served with crusty baguette and mixed green salad - perfection!

"I loved this dish but made a few revisions to make it a bit less guilty without sacrificing flavor. I used half and half instead of cream, and also roasted 4 cloves of garlic in their own skins with the potatoes and leeks (I peeled the garlic cloves and added them to the puree after roasting - gave depth to the flavor). Also, instead of heaping on so much cheese at the end, I put reggiano-parmasean rinds to the soup and let them sit submerged in the hot pot for a few hours before serving; this added the rich, nutty dimension to the dish cheese would have without adding all the extra fat/calories. Because the rinds are salty themselves, I thus halved the salt from 2 to 1 teaspoon. It was delicious and elegant. Served with crusty baguette and mixed green salad - perfection!