← Nouns Cooking · American

Ingredients

• 6 slices Bacon, chopped
• 2 tbsp Butter
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 3 cloves Garlic, chopped
• 3 tbsp Plain (all-purpose) flour
• 1.2 l chicken stock
• 1.3 kg floury potatoes (such as russet), peeled and cut into 2.5 cm cubes
• ½ tsp Dried thyme
• 1 tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Black pepper
• 240 ml Sour cream, plus extra to serve
• 120 g sharp cheddar, grated, divided
• 3 tbsp Chives, snipped

Method

1. Cook the bacon in a large pot over medium heat for 6–8 min, until crisp. Scoop it onto kitchen paper, leaving the fat behind.
2. Add the butter and onion and cook for 5 min, until soft. Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds, then the flour for 1 minute.
3. Gradually stir in the stock, then add the potatoes, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for 15–20 min, until the potatoes are very tender.
4. Mash about half of the potatoes right in the pot (or blend a few ladlefuls and stir back in) so the soup is thick but still chunky.
5. Off the heat, stir in the sour cream and most of the cheddar until melted. Taste for salt.
6. Ladle into bowls and top with the bacon, remaining cheddar, a spoonful of sour cream and the chives.

Tips

• Don’t boil the soup after adding the sour cream or it may split.
• Make it vegetarian with butter instead of bacon fat, vegetable stock and a pinch of smoked paprika on top.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

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