Last Updated on December 7, 2025
A posh stay-at-home dinner with truffled potato soup.
February 14th, Valentine’s Day, is fast approaching. Perhaps you’ve already booked your table at the Savoy. But maybe you want to stay home this year, tucked up in the warm, saving cash at the same time. What could be more romantic than a dinner you’ve made yourself?
The counter to that is that without a little planning, you might just end up feeling stressed. Cooking a special meal isn’t always easy, unless you happen to be a trained chef. My advice is to plan your menu – both food and drink – in advance. Make as much as you can a day or two before the special date and pick dishes that improve overnight and that can easily be reheated, like this truffled potato soup. And, of course, you need fizz – but, if you want to look after your pennies and still enjoy fine French bubbles, then try crémant!
I don’t have a date yet, but I’m practising my menu all the same (and enjoying sampling some fizz with friends too). I’d strongly recommend picking at least two dishes you’ve made before. What’s your own dream Valentine’s menu? I’m making Coq Au Vin or chicken in red wine because I know it’s something I can prepare well in advance (it actually freezes pretty well). Truffled potato soup is easy and not expensive to make, but somehow seems rather luxurious. And Poires Belle Helene is just a pretty, delicious, and light dessert.
And, for dessert, what could be better than Poires Belle Helene – again, a dish that can be made up in advance and just put together when you are ready to eat. As a starter, because the weather is so cold, I’ve made a lush potato velouté which I’m serving with a cream, parsley and truffle carpaccio topping. Truffled potato soup, if you like.
Again, the truffled potato soup itself can be made in advance, and the topping takes a few minutes to put together. The recipe is adapted from this one on the Great British Chefs website, but I’ve used homemade chicken stock (using the leftovers from the Coq au Vin) instead of vegetable nage, and instead of black truffle, I’ve used a teaspoon of white truffle carpaccio from a jar, which has a softer flavour and is easier to get hold of! I’m sharing the recipe below so you can make it for yourself.
You’ll find my recipe for Chicken in Red Wine here, and I’m still working on the ‘perfect’ Poires Belle Helene. You’ll find plenty of options if you Google – from Delia to Sainsbury’s Magazine, just take your pick. The most important thing is to pick your pears carefully, by which I mean finding a variety that is ripe but still firm enough to cope with being poached.
As for the wine to go with your meal, we loved both the bottles of Bouvet Ladubay crémant that we tried recently.
Trésor Saumur Brut 2018 is a blend of Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay, vinified on oak before being made into a Brut de Loire Crémant. It made a delicious aperitif, but we carried on drinking it with our truffled potato velouté and felt that it stood up well to the umami notes of the truffle, with notes of citrus fruits and brioche. It retails for £19.99 from Majestic.
For my testers, though, it was the Crémant de Loire Blanc de Blanc 2020 that went down best – it’s a little lighter, with delicate floral notes, pear and apple. The perfect foil for the Poires Belle Hélène which worked so well that I didn’t manage to take a single photo.
For those interested in scheduling, here’s how I prepared my ‘make in advance’ Valentine’s dinner.
Two days before
Joint chicken and prepare the marinade. I actually marinated everything outside in the garden, thanks to temperatures lingering around zero.
Make chicken stock for the soup using the chicken carcass, garden herbs, onion, carrot, and celery.
The day before
Make up the coq au vin and leave it in a cool place or in the fridge – it will improve with 24 hours of resting and can safely be left in the fridge for 2 or 3 days
Peel enough potatoes to accompany the coq au vin and to make the truffled potato soup
Prepare the truffled potato soup (recipe below). Cover and store in a cool place or the fridge
Peel the pears and make up the poached pears for the Poires Belle Hélène according to the recipe of your choice. Store them in the poaching syrup in the fridge
The morning of your dinner
Prepare the green vegetables of your choice
Make up the chocolate ganache sauce for the Poires Belle Hélène.
Whip double cream. Allow 50ml each for the soup and 50ml each for the pears – so if you are cooking for 2 people, you will need 200ml. Make up the truffle and parsley mixture with half the cream, put the rest to one side for the pears.
Drain the pears and stand one pear per person in dessert bowls. Cover with clingfilm or a clean tea towel
Half an hour before your guest(s) arrive
Put the soup in a saucepan, ready to warm
Chop fresh parsley for a garnish
Turn the oven on to 180 °C
Put the vegetables to accompany the coq au vin into saucepans with water
Lay the table and open the red wine you plan to use to allow it to breathe
If you have a second oven, put the plates and soup bowls in to warm at 80 °C.
Gently warm the ganache through till it is liquid. I do this in the microwave using 20-second bursts and stirring in between. You can also use a bain marie.
Finally, warm the coq au vin up to simmering point on the hob before transferring it to the oven. This should be about 5 minutes before your guests are due to arrive
When your guests arrive
Pour them a glass of crémant
Put the potatoes for the main course on to cook (once they come to the boil, salt, cover and turn the heat down)
Heat the soup gently till it is just simmering
Ask your guests to be seated at the table, and while they are doing that, turn on the remaining vegetables and serve the soup with a dollop of the truffled cream mixture
Once the soup has been eaten
Check that the coq au vin is hot and that the vegetables are cooked. Serve garnished with freshly chopped parsley
Once the main course is finished
Serve the dessert by liberally pouring ganache over the pears and then adding a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream
I’ll share a recipe for Poires Belle Hélène once I’ve perfected the version that I like. In the meanwhile, here’s how I made the truffled potato soup (or velouté if you want to sound posh). I used a white truffle carpaccio that came from Tuscany – if you don’t have that, the recipe will work perfectly well with truffle oil or (best of all) with shaved fresh truffles!
Truffled Potato Soup
Equipment
- 1 Pressure cooker optional
Ingredients
- 3 large floury potatoes I used King Edward
- 2 medium brown onions
- 2 cloves garlic
- 20 grams butter
- 900 millilitres fresh stock I used homemade chicken stock. You could substitute vegetable stock if you prefer a vegetarian soup
- 100 millilitres dry white wine or vermouth
- 200 millilitres double cream
- 1 teaspoon truffle carpaccio
- 1 teaspoon freshly chopped parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Peel and finely slice the onions and garlic
- Peel and slice the potatoes
- Melt the butter in your pressure cooker or in a heavy based saucepan
- Add the onions and soften for 8 minutes or so over a low heat
- Add the garlic and potato, season with salt and pepper and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring gently
- Add the stock and wine and set the pressure cooker for 20 minutes on high. If you are not using a pressure cooker, bring to the boil then reduce the heat and cover – simmer for 30 minutes or so
- Use a hand blender to mix all the ingredients to a veloute. If necessary you can pass everything through a sieve. Taste and adjust the seasoning
- Stir the parsley and truffle carpaccio through the cream
- Serve the soup in bowls with a teaspoon of the truffled cream and with extra parsley to garnish
Do let me know in the comments below if you try this truffled potato soup. If you are not keen on truffles, then an alternative would be to garnish with crispy fried onions. Delicious!
Looking for something different? If truffled potato soup isn’t your thing, how about this recipe for aromatic burrata
Leave a Reply