Potatoes, cheddar, bacon – what could be bad? And this soup doesn’t take much more than frying some bacon and boiling some potatoes.
Cook six to eight slices of bacon in the bottom of a large soup pot until crisp. Remove the bacon and set aside to cool and crumble, but leave the fat in the pot.
Stir in two chopped onions and six minced garlic cloves and saute over medium heat for six or seven minutes. Once the onion is translucent, add three cubed, unpeeled baking potatoes, 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper and a couple of quarts of chicken stock.
Bring to a boil and then simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 30 to 40 minutes. Puree until smooth with a stick blender or transfer in batches to a blender or food processor. Then, with the soup back in the pot and the heat on low, stir in at least 8 ounces of shredded sharp cheddar and the crumbled bacon. Salt and pepper to taste.
Double up on this one so you’ll have plenty left over for the freezer; there’s a lot of winter ahead of us.