Potato and celery soup with savoy cabbage and bacon

There’s still a chill in the air, but I can feel the warmth and freshness of spring just around the corner. It’s still good soup weather, but I wanted something light and a bit different. I happened to stumble across this warming, hearty potato and celery soup with savoy cabbage and bacon in an old recipe book. It was handwritten, so I must have got it from someone, but for the life of me I can’t imagine who.

Taking only 20 minutes to make, and having all the ingredients in the fridge and pantry, I thought, ‘Why not?’

I was a bit apprehensive about what sort of flavour this recipe would have, so I made a few adjustments. I preferred to give the bacon a bit of a sizzle before adding to the pot. I also deglazed the pan with a bit of white wine or stock (probably about 1-2 tablespoons) and then added less oil and tossed in the vegetables. It was certainly a fresh tasting soup.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 1 onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 celery stick
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve
• 550g potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
• 1L chicken or vegetable stock
• 8 rashers streaky bacon
• a quarter medium Savoy cabbage (about 200g)

Method

1. Using a food processor, chop the onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Heat the oil over a medium heat in a large saucepan. Add vegetables and potatoes, season well, then reduce the heat and cover the pan. Gently cook for about 5 minutes until starting to soften, then add stock, turn up the heat and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes more, or until all the vegetables are tender.
2. While the soup is cooking, grill or fry bacon until crisp, then cut into strips. Shred cabbage, discarding the core.
3. Whiz the soup in the food processor until smooth, then return to the pan and add cabbage. Simmer for a few mins until cabbage is just tender, then season to taste and serve scattered with the bacon.