Potato Soup

So, I now have a house full of people (or had, my brother and his boyfriend left today). But when I had a house full, six people in total, I needed something filling that I could make a lot of too feed them, therefore I made potato soup. I can't believe I actually had to use a 5 lb. bag of potatoes, but I did. This recipe definitely feeds six, probably twice over, which was great for me because I didn't want to spend all of my time in the kitchen. ^_^

This soup is delicious. Hearty and satisfying and still quite healthy (even with the bacon, which you can leave out if you want to). 

Potato Soup
5 lb Yukon Gold Potatoes cubed
1 lb Carrots diced or sliced
3 Onions chopped
5-6 Celery Stalked chopped
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1/2 lb Bacon 
3 tablespoons Flour
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Put cubed potatoes and carrots in a very large pot and put in water until just covered. Add in some salt and pepper and put on medium high to bring to boil. Meanwhile, saute celery and onions until onions are translucent and start to brown then add to the pot. Fry bacon until crisp and crumble into the soup. Add in the cream and let cook on medium low until everything is soft. If the soup isn't thick enough for your taste add in the flour and simmer on low for a while longer until thickened. Makes about 10-12 generous servings.

Creamy Bacon Portabella Linguine

Mmmm bacon, haven't cooked with bacon in a quite a while but it was on sale last week and I decided to pick up a few pounds along with some mushrooms since the two combine so well. I whipped this dish up pretty quickly as it doesn't have many ingredients and can be made in one frying pan, which is always a plus. This came out really well, I particularly like the way the nutty whole wheat pasta complements the richness of the bacon and sour cream in the sauce. Also, cooking something with bacon means you can steal a few pieces on the side before you add it into the main dish and who can resist that?

Happy noshing! 

Creamy Bacon Portabella Linguine

16 oz. Portabella Mushrooms sliced

1 lb. Bacon

2 tablespoons Flour

1 cup (approx) Milk

1/3 cup Sour Cream

Salt

Pepper

½ lb. Whole Wheat Linguine cooked according to the package directions

Crispy bacon - yum!

Fry bacon on medium high heat until slightly crispy. Drain almost all grease out of the pan but keep enough in to cook the mushrooms. While mushrooms are cooking grind pepper over them to taste. Once mushrooms are softened and browned sprinkle flour on them and mix to coat. Slowly add in the milk and sour cream to the pan (on low heat) and stir until thickened. Add in the bacon and the linguine and stir until coated.