Soup Sunday - Caramelized Onion & Potato Soup with Bacon

This recipe is my own recipe, inspired by the bag of potatoes I bought yesterday and my craving for caramelized onions - I love them!

I love my roasted potato-onion-garlic soup but felt like something other than that today. I thought about the ingredients for a bit - I knew caramelized onions and potatoes would be the focus, but how would I bring it all together? I decided to use bacon grease to caramelize the onions, thyme to add flavor, vermouth to deglaze the pan, a touch of cream at the end after pureeing most of the potatoes, and would finish it off with some crumbled bacon on top. A touch of shredded Gruyere would work well on top also, but I didn't have any in the house.

So here is my newest soup creation - Caramelized Onion & Potato Soup with Bacon

Ingredients

• 5 pieces of raw bacon
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 medium onions, roughly chopped (but small enough to be bite-sized)
• 1 tsp dried thyme, maybe a touch more
• 1 pinch sugar
• 1/4 c dry Vermouth
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 3 medium-large potatoes, diced (I used red potatoes; Yukon Gold potatoes would probably work well too)
• 5-6 cups low sodium chicken broth
• Kosher salt, black pepper
• 1/2- 3/4 c light cream
• Optional: white truffle oil

Directions

• Heat soup pot over high heat; add bacon and cook until crispy being careful not to let the bacon or grease burn. Transfer bacon to paper towels and set aside.
• Dispose of all but one tablespoon of the bacon grease from the pot. Add 1 tsp olive oil and turn heat to low/medium low.
• Add onions and a pinch each of thyme and sugar. Cook the onions over low/medium low heat until caramelized, approximately 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. The onions will turn a beautiful golden-brown color when cooked, but the bacon grease will also make them golden brown so don't let that fool you into thinking they are fully cooked/caramelized.
• Turn heat to medium, push onions to sides of pot, and deglaze pan with vermouth, stirring and scraping up brown bits for about 2 minutes until liquid is absorbed.
• Add carrots, celery, and potatoes. Season with more thyme, salt, and pepper. Stir until everything is mixed together.
• Add broth and bring to a boil; lower heat to medium and cook until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
• Turn heat to low. Using a hand-held immersion blender, puree most of the potatoes. I pulsed the blender so I'd still have some chunks of potatoes.
• Add cream to soup and adjust spices. Let simmer for a few minutes.
• To serve - ladle soup into a bowl and top with some crumbled bacon. I also drizzled white truffle oil on top. Gruyere cheese and parsley would also make beautiful toppings.

I am very happy with this soup. It is hearty, fragrant, and full of flavor. It has some sweetness from the onions, but is also rich from the bacon and potatoes. It was fairly simple as well - it took about 90 minutes from start to finish. Another Sunday, another soup, and I am happy to add this one to my list of favorites!

And since this is my first time blogging in a week, congratulations to the PHILLIES!!!! Phinally, after 28 years, they are World Champions!!

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