Ingredients
6 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 celery stalk, chopped fine
2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut in small cubes
3 leeks, white part only, cleaned and chopped
1 carrot, chopped in 1/2 inch chunks
2 yukon gold potatoes, peeled and chopped in 1/2 inch chunks
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 blue potatoes, peeled and sliced as fine as possible
1/4 cup pancetta, small dice
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Put chicken broth, celery, leeks and russet potatoes in a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high head. Cook approximately 20 minutes at a rolling boil until the potatoes are very tender. In a separate small pot with salted water, boil yukon gold potatoes and carrot pieces until mostly tender but not falling apart. Drain and set aside once tender.
Once the leek-potato mixture is ready, using a stick blender, puree until smooth. If you do not have a stick blender, use a regular blender and puree in batches before returning the mixture to the pot. Add the cream, the yukon potatoes and carrot to the soup and stir. This will make a cream soup with cubed potato and carrot chunks.
For the garnish, heat a medium non-stick skillet to high heat. Render the diced pancetta until you basically have bacon bits. Do not let the pancetta burn! Add the thinly sliced blue potatoes and sauté until they become “chip-like”, approximately 8-10 minutes. Garnish soup with pancetta and blue potato mix. Some will inevitably sink into the soup, giving it a nice bacony flavor.
