Monthly Archives: December 2012

One of the downsides of my weirdo illness is that I am hardly ever hungry anymore. It goes along nicely with another one of the downsides; the fact that there is almost nothing I can eat right now without getting sick.

But this afternoon I found myself crazy hungry and craving potato soup. I wanted to capitalize on my hunger really quickly before it was gone, so I put together a lightening fast version that would probably work well for weeknights when you really don’t have an hour to pull together dinner.

Start by slowly browning 6 ounces of pancetta over low heat. If you don’t have pancetta, bacon will totally do. I used to call pancetta “fancy bacon” but I bought this pancetta at Target, so not so fancy.

While the pancetta browns, pop four large potatoes in the microwave for as long as it takes them to cook through and become tender. In my microwave, that’s about 13 minutes, but your milage may vary.

Remove the browned pancetta from the pan with a slotted spoon. This next part is critical: do not eat more than half of the browned pancetta while you are waiting for the soup to finish cooking. No one will know that you’ve been sneaking it if you strictly limit yourself to half.

Sautee one chopped onion in the pancetta fat (you can add a glug of olive oil or butter if you need more fat, but you should have enough.) Cook the onion till soft but not necessarily brown.

When the potatoes are cooked through and have cooled a bit, cut a slit in the jackets and crumble the inside into the soup pot. Stir together with the onion and allow to cook for a minute or two.

Add 64 ounces of chicken stock, homemade or from a box. [If you have a problem with my okaying the use of  store-bought stock you can A) Call my culinary school and demand that they rescind my diploma or B) Bite me. (Backstory.)] Heat the soup though over medium-high heat.

Now, at this stage you have some options. You can serve the soup just like it is. Or you can remove the pot from heat and then add one cup of whole milk. Or you can remove the pot from heat and then add one cup of cream. All three make wonderful soups, just with varying degrees of richness and creaminess. The important thing is not to add the dairy over the heat, or you run the risk of curdling the soup.

Serve the soup with the pancetta on the side, along with grated cheese (just about any hard or moldy cheese will work wonderfully) and some chopped green onions.

Now curl up in front of a Love Actually, pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy!