potato leek soup

We've made a couple of potato soups at this point. Last year, we made a vegan sweet potato soup; and in January, Kenny reinvented an old family recipe with vegan cream of potato and chard soup. But ya know what? We're not sick of 'em yet! This one's for the omnivores!

Ingredients:

5 slices of bacon (Fatted Calf!), roughly chopped

1 lb potatoes, peeled and sliced

2 leeks, white and green parts only, thinly sliced

1 cup milk (Want to use cream? go for it!)

1/2 lb frozen petite peas

4 cups vegetable stock
salt, pepper to taste

Add the potatoes to a large pot of boiling, salted water, and cook until fork tender. Strain and set aside. In the same pot, over medium heat, add the bacon and cook until all the fat is rendered out and the bacon is crispy. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside for later on a paper towel. Fight the urge to eat the bacon. Saute the leeks in the bacon fat until translucent, about 5-6 minutes. OK, eat a piece or two of the bacon. Add the potatoes, vegetable stock, and some salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook until simmering. When the soup is hot, blend ingredients together with an immersion blender, and once smooth, slowly add the milk or cream while still blending, until incorporated. When the soup is creamy and delicious, add the peas and continue to cook for 3 minutes. Taste and season again, and then top with the reserved bacon, and serve with some crusty bread.