Cheesy Potato Shallot Soup

Cream, cheese, potatoes and bacon; there is nothing wrong with this. Unless you're a lactose intolerant, bacon-hating low carber, of course. Or vegan. Then, there's just more for the rest of us. So, party on you lactose intolerant, bacon-hating low carbers and vegans!

Prep time is a little long if you're peeling and chopping your own taters, but it's worth it. But, you can always get a bag of Simply Potatoes if you want to speed the process. Cook time is about a half-hour.

The only trick to this soup is stirring in the cheese. In a normal cheese sauce/ broth situation, you'd use a whisk to incorporate the cheese. Here, the potatoes would get in the way. I used a slotted spoon and the folding method and the cheese blended beautifully.

Cheese Potato Shallot Soup

Ingredients:

• 3 strips thick-sliced bacon, cut into cubes
• 2 shallots, diced
• 4 russet potatoes, chopped into 1/4 inch cubes and soaked
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
• 1-2 cups chicken stock
• 1-2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
• sprinkle Italian seasoning
• pinch dry mustard
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• Kosher Salt and Ground Black Pepper to taste

Method:

1. Cook bacon in saucepan until crispy. Remove from pan and reserve for topping. Leave rendered fat in pan.
2. Lightly saute shallots in bacon drippings and a little salt and pepper for 2-3 minutes until slightly clear. Add garlic and cook for one more minute.
3. Drain potatoes and add to Shallot/ Garlic mix in pan. Add several large pinches of salt, 1-2 more grinds of pepper, the dry mustard, the Italian seasoning and the stock. Stir, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Add the cream, Worcestershire, and bring to scalded temp (steaming without bubbles). Slowly add the cheese a pinch at a time. Gently fold to combine the cheese, not adding any more cheese until the previous addition is no longer visible.
5. Add more salt and Worcestershire if needed.
6. Top with bacons. Eat. Enter soup coma.