Why, yes!, you are seeing lots of soup recipes on CityMama, lately. It's just that Fall is my favorite season and soup is one of my favorite ways to, um, eat food, so I'm sharing.
A few weeks ago I had a craving for corn chowder, but an extra-special corn chowder made with guanciale (cured pig jowl) instead of ham or bacon. I used about 3 ounces and wow. It took the soup to a whole new, rich and wonderful level. The best part about it was that the soup was done in about 45 minutes. Which means that me deciding to make it for a mid-week lunch for Wallie and me wasn't such a bad idea after all. If you don't have access to guanciale then you can substitute pancetta, and if you don't have access to pancetta just use plain old bacon. (Not smoked, if possible.)
FRESH CORN CHOWDER WITH GUANCIALE
- 3 ounces of guanciale, diced (excess fat trimmed)
- 1-2 cloves of garlic, smashed
- 1 shallot, finely diced
- olive oil
- 2 ears of corn, kernels removed
- 2 russett potatoes, diced (I don't bother peeling)
- a half box of chicken stock
- roughly the same amount (2 cups) of half and half
- salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
In a soup pot, saute guanciale in a glug of olive oil over medium heat until the guanciale is nicely browned but not crisp. Add in corn kernels, garlic, and shallot. Cook until garlic is soft and shallot is translucent and fragrant. Add in potatoes and chicken stock. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until potatoes are just cooked, about 10-15 minutes. Add in half and half and warm through. Adjust seasonings and serve at once. I like plenty of black pepper in mine as you can see! Make some for dinner this week and serve up something warm and toasty!
...and speaking of dinner, Cook! SF recently sent me dinner. It was delightful!
