Vegetarian Potato Soup

I recently offered to bring a potluck dish to an event to serve as part of a luncheon. My goal with it was locally sourced (Cold River Gold potatoes); vegetarian (no bacon or other meat or meat stock), and gluten free -- everything you'd expect from vegetarian potato soup!

When I set out to concoct this recipe I was concerned about depth of flavor without bacon or meat stock, so I employed what I learned form Salt Fat Acid Heat and went long on the other fats and seasonings.

Since I was preparing this specifically to serve from a crock pot at a later date, I stopped short of finishing it in my kitchen. I also apologize in advance that there are no 'finished' photos because I forgot to take some when I served the dish.

Unlike the roasted potato recipe, I skinned and boiled them for this version. I also found something really fun to do with the skins -- but I'll get to that in a bit.

I used 2 stock pots to make the soup, one for the potatoes and one for the mirepoix (pronounced meer-pwah). Although it sounds fancy and maybe snooty, it's really shorthand for a French base of onions, carrots, and celery, cooked slowly in butter or oil to add depth and flavor to soups, stews, and sauces. 

To be honest with you, I'd never heard the term until very recently and have been sauteing this combo for my entire cooking life. In the interest of saving words -- I know, hilarious coming from me -- I may start using the term mirepoix in future recipes when they start with it, BTW also known as the Holy Trinity. The things you learn in the rabbit hole.... And, if you want to get technical, the proportion is 2 parts onion to 1 part each of celery and carrot. Here I go again... back to the soup!

With a stick of butter, a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, some minced garlic and salt and pepper, I prepared the mirepoix. In a separate stock pot, I added the skinned cut potatoes, enough water to just cover them and a handful of salt.

When the veggies were tender, I turned off the heat and set the entire pot aside. When the potatoes were tender, I poured off most of the water and mashed the potatoes until they were completely smooth. I then added the vegetable broth and whisked until the potato mixture was smooth and pureed. You can also do this in a blender by adding potatoes and some broth and repeating the process until it's all done. The mash / whisk l method just seemed easier for the large amount I was preparing.

After the potato mixture was blended, I returned the mirepoix to low heat and added the pureed potatoes and stirred until it was a uniform consistency. I then added to frozen corn kernels, kept the heat low and stirred frequently until the corn was heated. During this stage, there should be a lot of taste testing happening to adjust the herbs and spices. In addition to salt and pepper, I used a combination of my herbs de Provence and my garlic and herb dip seasoning mix until I got the flavors I was looking for.

Once the seasoning and blending was complete, I transferred the soup to a storage container for finishing at the event. If you're making this for home, when you're ready to serve, you can do the finishing on the stove top instead of the crock pot.

To finish at home, while the soup is warm add a stick of salted butter and stir until melted and combined. Then add (1/4 C at a time) either heavy cream, half and half or plain yogurt to add your desired level creamy richness to the soup.

For the potluck version, I turned the crock pot on to 'high' and melted the stick of butter in the crock. Once the butter was melted, I transferred, the (room temperature) soup to the pot and reduced the heat to low. I stirred the soup to blend with the melted butter and added the heavy cream. Keeping an eye and stirring frequently over the next hour or two, I reduced the temp to warm once the soup was simmering. The warm setting on my crock pot held the soup at just the right temperature for serving when the time came.

THE RECIPE:

3 LB of potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2" chunks -- reserve the skins in a dish

4C vegetable broth

2 - 3 C total diced onion and or scallions -- reserve the scallion tops for garnish.

1C each diced carrot and celery

1 stick of butter

3T olive oil

3 or 4 cloves minced garlic

salt and pepper to taste

1 -2 C frozen corn kernels

Herbs de Provence

Garlic, dill herb mix

1 stick of butter for finishing

Cream or yogurt for finishing.

Peel and cut potatoes into 1/2" pieces, reserve the skins.

Dice onion and or scallions, reserve scallion tops

Dice celery and carrots

While the mirepoix is simmering, boil the potatoes in just enough salted water to cover them. Check to make sure the water doesn't boil away and add some if needed.

When the veggies are tender, remove the pot from the heat and set aside for later.

Once the potatoes are tender, begin mashing and adding vegetable broth until the mixture is smooth and thick.

Pour / scrape the potato mixture into the mirepoix and stir to combine.

Add the corn, seasonings to taste, followed by the butter and cream.

When serving, feel free to add a dollop of butter and those scallion tops.

BTW, I am having this affair with ChatGPT. I gave it the recipe and the last 2 photos of the soup in the pot, I told it that I forgot to take a plated photo and it returned the soup in the bowl! Not bad if you ask me.

BONUS RECIPE:

Now back to these potato skins.

Place the skins in a small bowl.

In a second bowl or measuring cup, whisk some olive oil with your favorites seasonings until well combined. (I used my 2 varieties of popcorn dust)

Pour the olive oil mixture over the skins and use your hands to make sure all the skins are coated.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.

Spread the coated skins in a single on the tray and bake until crisp -- about 15 minutes.

Transfer to paper towel until cool.

Or just eat them off the cookie sheet like I did. (some did make it to a bowl to share, but they didn't last too long.

On my to-do list is to see if I can freeze the peels and then make a giant batch of 'chips' when I collect up enough skins. TBD, but I'll keep you posted.

SO GOOD! And that's where all the nutrition and fiber is, PLUS you reduce your waste.