Winter Warming Cabbage and Bacon Soup

Here is my simplified recipe for savoy cabbage and bacon soup. This soup came about from an urge to abandon our menu plan one teenager-free-teatime in favour of a warming substantial soup (our boys don't quite get the joys of soup). I knew I had half a savoy cabbage loitering about (currently an Aldi's super 6 veg) but did I have any other ingredients that could magic a soup? Checking online I discovered savoy cabbage and bacon soup recipes aplenty but requiring streaky bacon, celery and leeks  - none of which I had. However, I did have ordinary back bacon (everyday value), a few carrot sticks, onions, potatoes plus some forgotten ham stock in the freezer left over from Christmas. 

Some cabbage and bacon soup recipes call for blending the ingredients before adding the cabbage to produce a thin soup - I made mine quicker and  easier by sautéing the cabbage with the other veg at the onset and keeping the consistency chunky. I experimented with cloves and bay leaves which I think added some depth. I also put the outer darker green leaves aside to fry with a few strips of bacon and garlic for an easy but cheffy garnish, but this is entirely optional.

So here's my winter warming soup using the classic combination of cabbage and bacon - simple, tasty and very satisfying. As long as you have onions, cabbage, ordinary bacon and some stock (chicken or veg) this recipe will work. Extra veg (leeks, carrots, potatoes) are optional. Potatoes bulk this soup out and adding more potatoes and stock would stretch this soup even further. After all frugality reigns in January!  

You will need

approx half a savoy cabbage shredded quite finely
1 onion chopped
1 clove of garlic chopped or crushed
I carrot chopped
2 medium potatoes diced into small cubes
2 slices back bacon chopped
1 or 2 bay leaves
3-4 cloves
1 tbsp olive oil
1 litre vegetable stock or ham stock (or use a combination of both as I did)

Method

Gently fry the chopped veg (but not the potatoes) in the olive oil until softened. Add the bacon pieces and fry lightly. Add the stock together with the potatoes, cloves and bay leaves. Simmer for  10 -15 minutes until the potatoes are softened. Towards the end of the cooking time, in a separate pan, quickly fry the dark green cabbage with slices of bacon and a tiny amount of bacon until crisp. Ladle the chunky soup into a bowl adding a sprinkle of the dark green cabbage and bacon strips for garnish.