Loaded Baked Potato Soup with Crispy Bacon

Ingredients

• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 800 ml chicken stock
• 1 kg floury potatoes, peeled and cut into 3cm chunks
• salt and black pepper
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 200 ml whole milk
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 spring onions, thinly sliced
• 6 rashers streaky bacon
• 100 g mature cheddar, grated
• Crusty sourdough bread, to serve
• Natural yoghurt, to serve
• Fresh parsley, to serve

Method

1. Fry the bacon rashers in a large dry pot over medium-high heat for 4–5 minutes, turning once, until deeply crisp and the fat has rendered. Lift onto kitchen paper, leaving the bacon fat in the pot. Crumble into shards once cool.
2. Add the butter and olive oil to the bacon fat. Fry the onion over medium heat for 5 minutes until soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
3. Tip in the potato chunks and pour over the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a steady simmer for 20–25 minutes, until the potatoes collapse easily when prodded with a fork.
4. Using a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon, crush about half the potatoes directly in the pot. You're after a thick, chunky, rib-sticking texture — not a smooth puree.
5. Pour in the milk and stir through about three-quarters of the grated cheddar. Warm over low heat for 3 minutes, stirring, until the cheese has melted into a glossy, creamy soup. Taste and season generously with salt and pepper.
6. Ladle into deep bowls. Pile on the crumbled bacon, scatter over the remaining cheddar so it just begins to melt, and shower with sliced spring onions. Finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a hard crack of black pepper.