Anyway, nothing says fall like some hearty soup! This is absolutely the epitome of hearty. This soup is gonna call to you from the bowl. It's gonna say, "Baby, I love you. Really, I do."
This soup has everything a baked potato should have... and more! First, we start with a bushel of potatoes! I used one whole bag of petite reds but, you can use regular baking potatoes. So, why baked potatoes? Why not just boiled potatoes? Well, my friends, let me explain: Baked potatoes have an intense earthy flavor that regular boiled potatoes cannot achieve. The intense earthy potato-y flavor is perfectly paired with the creamy onion topping, crisped bacon, fresh green onion, and sharp cheddar cheese. I dare you to try this soup and not like it. I triple dog dare you. I mean, just look at it!
I mean, REALLY. How could you possibly resist?!
Without further ado, the recipe!
Soup:
1 pound of bacon (yes!)
6 Tbl. all-purpose flour
1 onion
6-8 large baked potatoes, cooled
4 cups milk
6 cups chicken broth or stock
2 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste (I didn't add any salt... the bacon fat used to make the roux was salty enough!)
optional: up to 1 cup of instant mashed potato flakes to thicken the soup (I like my soup thick so, I used about 1/2 of a cup of flakes)
Creamy Onion Topping:
2 cups Greek yogurt
1 bunch green onions, cleaned, trimmed of roots and thinly sliced
1/4 tsp. Kosher salt
Slice bacon into 1/4 - 1/2 inch strips. Place bacon in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until bacon just starts to crisp. Use a slotted spoon to remove bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.
Mmmmmm. bacon. We'll deal with this deliciousness later. Don't eat it all just yet! It'll be a difficult task, believe me, I know.
Stir Greek yogurt, green onions, and Kosher salt together in a bowl.
Cover the bowl and refrigerate until time for use. Making this topping before the soup is made gives the flavors time to blend.
Drain all but about 6 Tablespoons of bacon fat from the soup pot. If you've drained the pot right, you'll have lots of little crispy bacon morsels left. Don't you DARE wipe those little flavor nuggets out. They're nuggets of pure joy and ecstasy that will only add to the awesomeness of the soup. LEAVE THEM IN! Now, dice the onion and stir it into the bacon fat that remains in the pot and turn heat to low. Sweat those little onions until they're soft and translucent.
While the onions are sweating, cut each baked potato into quarters and discard the skin. Put the potatoes in a bowl and get out your potato masher and go all Bruce Banner/ HULK on those taters! I find that actually saying, "HULK SMASH!" while mashing the potatoes makes the process that much more awesome and gratifying. The potatoes don't have to be smooth, in fact, I prefer my soup to have chunks of potato in it. It's totally up to you how you want to eviscerate your potatoes, though.
Now, sprinkle the flour evenly over the translucent onions and whisk until smooth.
Turn the heat back to medium. Although at first the fat will seem to seize up, it will loosen and become liquid again fairly quickly.
Once it returns to a liquid state and begins bubbling, stir constantly and cook for one minute. This is your roux, or your thickener for the soup. Or, if you're the weird dude who used to work with my mom and who tried to convince her he was some high profile chef, it's your 'brew.' As in, Witch's. Yah, that guy was a joke. Anyway, I digress. Whisk all of the milk into the roux and bring to a simmer. Simmer gently until thickened. To check whether your base has thickened enough, dip a wooden spoon into it and remove it.
If the sauce clings to your spoon like this, you're ready to go to the next step! Whisk the 6 cups of chicken broth into the milk base and then stir all of the smashed potato innards into the soup. With the pot over medium heat, stir frequently to prevent scorching. You don't need to boil the soup; you just want to get it steaming hot. When it is steaming, check the consistency. If it's not thick enough for you, add some instant potato flakes into the soup a small amount at a time until it's reached the desired thickness. Stir in the 2 cups of shredded cheese until it is completely melted.
Remove the soup pot from the heat and serve immediately with the creamy onion topping, crisp bacon pieces, green onions, and additional shredded cheese. Let the potato-y, cheesy, bacon-y lovefest ensue!!
Girlfriend tested. Girlfriend approved.
