Sausage Loaded Potato Leek Soup

Ingredients:

o  1 pound Salt & Pepper Loose Sausage

o  ½ pound Uncured Sliced Bacon

o  2 bunches Leeks; dark green leaves removed, rinsed thoroughly and chopped

o  5-6 large Yukon gold potatoes; peeled and diced ½“ pieces (5 cups)

o  6 cups chicken or pork stock

o  ¾ cup heavy cream

o  2 Tbsp. butter

o  1 Tbsp. bacon grease (reserved)

o  2-3 cloves garlic, minced

o  2 bay leaves

o  4 small sprigs fresh thyme

o  ½ tsp. salt

o  ¼ tsp. black pepper

o  2-3 stems Parsley

o  Chervil microgreens or chives for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1.      Preheat a large Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Cut bacon into small pieces and cook until crispy. Remove bacon and all but 1 Tbsp. grease from the pan. 

2.      Add butter and leeks. Reduce heat to medium low and cook for about 15 minutes. Chop parsley stems (reserving leaves) and add along with garlic in the last 5 minutes. 

3.      Once leeks are soft, add potatoes, stock, bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are very soft, stirring occasionally. 

4.      Meanwhile, brown sausage in a separate pan and drain to remove any grease.

5.      Once potatoes are beginning to break down, remove from heat. Remove bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Add fresh parsley leaves.

6.      Blend soup well with an immersion blender. It should be very smooth except for only the small pieces of parsley leaves still visible. 

7.      Stir in heavy cream and crumbled cooked sausage. Return to heat over medium and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring often. This gives a chance for the flavors to come together before making the final salt and pepper adjustment.

8.      Garnish dishes with bacon and chervil. (I ended up tripling my chervil garnish as they were so good!). Enjoy!