Baked Potato Stone Soup

Recipe for Baked Potato Stone Soup Try this heart baked potato soup, perfect for a day of skiing or as part of a Northern Michigan New Year's Eve celebration.

Ingredients

Farm fresh local bacon Farm fresh local onion Celery Farm fresh local parsnip Farm fresh local rosemary Sea salt White pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place a large wire cooling rack on a baking sheet. Place eight slices of bacon on wire cooling rack. Place baking sheet in oven for twenty minutes, then remove baking sheet from oven. Remove wire cooling rack from baking sheet to let bacon cool. Drain bacon grease from baking sheet into the base of a large metal soup pot. Chop one half cup onion and one cup celery. Add onion, celery and one quarter teaspoon sea salt to the large metal soup pot with the bacon grease. Cook the onion and celery for five minutes. Slice two cups parsnip, add to onion mixture and cook covered for ten minutes. Add five cups water and one quarter teaspoon sea salt to soup pot. Cover soup pot and bring to boil, then reduce to medium low and cook for ten minutes. Remove two teaspoons rosemary leaves from stems and mince. Remove soup from heat, add one quarter teaspoon sea salt, one quarter teaspoon white pepper and minced rosemary. Blend soup with a hand blender directly in soup pot. Crumble cooled bacon strips. Serve soup sprinkled with a little sea salt and one strip crumbled bacon.

Photo(s) by Kristin Celeste Shroeger