Alright, so the other day I was looking for something warm and filling, you know? And I had a bag of potatoes just sitting there, looking at me. Figured, why not make some soup? Nothing complicated, just something quick and easy.
Getting Started
First thing, I grabbed about four or five medium-sized potatoes. Didn’t really measure, just grabbed what looked right. Gave them a good scrub, peeled most of them – left a bit of skin on some for texture, I guess. Then I chopped them into rough cubes. Nothing neat, just bite-sized chunks.
Next, I found an onion and a couple of cloves of garlic. Chopped the onion up, again, pretty rough dice. Minced the garlic. That was basically all the hard work done right there.
Cooking Time
I put my trusty pot on the stove, medium heat. Added a splash of oil, maybe a tablespoon or two? Once it was warm, I tossed in the chopped onion. Let that cook for a few minutes, stirring now and then, until it got soft and kinda see-through. Then I threw in the garlic for just a minute – didn’t want it to burn.
Okay, then came the potatoes. Dumped all those chunks into the pot. Gave it a quick stir. Then I poured in enough broth to cover everything. I used chicken broth ’cause I had some open, but vegetable broth or even just water with salt would work fine, honestly.
I cranked up the heat to get it boiling, then turned it right down to low, put the lid on kinda crooked, and just let it simmer away. How long? I don’t know, maybe 15-20 minutes? I just waited until the potatoes were super tender. I poked the biggest chunk I could find with a fork, and it went right through, no problem. That’s how you know.
Making it Soupy
Here’s the easy part. I turned off the heat. Grabbed my immersion blender – you know, the stick kind? Stuck it right into the pot and carefully started blending. Did it in pulses at first so hot soup didn’t fly everywhere. I blended it until it was mostly smooth but still had a few small potato bits. I like it a bit chunky, not like baby food. If you don’t have a stick blender, you could carefully transfer batches to a regular blender, but man, that’s more washing up.
Once it was the consistency I liked, I stirred in a splash of milk, maybe half a cup? Just to make it a bit creamier. Could use heavy cream if you have it, or even skip this if you want. Then the most important part: tasting and seasoning. Added a good pinch of salt and plenty of black pepper. Stirred, tasted again. Needed a bit more salt. Perfect.
All Done
And that was it, really. Ladled the hot soup into a bowl. I found some shredded cheddar cheese in the fridge, so I sprinkled a bunch of that on top. Sometimes I add bacon bits or green onions if I have them, but cheese was enough this time.
Seriously, it was quick and easy. From chopping to eating, probably took about 30-35 minutes total. Super simple, super comforting. Definitely doing that again soon.