The weather has cooled a bit and my hubby’s favorite soup is my Potato Leek with Bacon.  I made my first batch of the year this week.  This is a great soup for a rainy day.  All the ingredients are simple, use what herbs and spices you like best.

Potato Leek Soup With Bacon

Makes 4-6 8 oz servings

5-6 Large Yukon Gold Potatoes

1 large leek (about a cup) chopped

3 strips of bacon

2 cups milk

1/2 cups chicken stock (vegetable works here as well)

1 tsp herbs de provence

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp each fresh rosemary, thyme, sage, finely chopped

pinch of clove

1 tbls salt

1 tsp black pepper

 

 

Method

Start bacon strips in a cold dutch oven to crisp. Chop and clean leeks. While bacon is cooking, peel and cube potatoes, place in a cold bowl of water until ready to use. When bacon is crisp, drain on a paper towel and set aside. Use about a tablespoon of the bacon fat.  Discard the rest or save for other uses.  Saute leeks in bacon fat.  Once they are softened, add chicken stock to deglaze the pan, then drain and add potatoes.  Add milk and spices, salt, pepper.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.  At this point you can make one of two decisions.  Scoop out with a slotted spoon, about 2 cups of potatoes, set aside.  Or, leave all potatoes in the soup.  Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth.  Add more stock or milk if you want to thin the soup a little.  If you leave in all potatoes you may need to add liquid.  Place potatoes back into the soup if you removed them.  Add fresh herbs.  Serve soup with crumbled bacon bits and enjoy.

• This freezes well