Baked potato soup with sour cream
- 4 large baking potatoes, about 1¾ pounds in total, scrubbed and dried
- 3 cups clear chicken or vegetable stock
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- handful of fresh chives, minced
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2½ tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
Instructions:
The clear broth is infused with the flavor of baked potatoes and served with homemade potato gnocchi: a surprising and delightful mouthful of flavors and textures.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Wrap the potatoes in a large sheet of foil. Bake until tender when pierced with a skewer, about 1½ hours. Remove from the oven and turn down the heat to 300°F. Wearing rubber gloves to protect your hands, peel the skins off the potatoes while still hot. Spread the skins out on a baking sheet and bake until dry and crisp, 15–20 minutes. Turn off the oven, but leave the skins inside to continue drying.
- Meanwhile, make the gnocchi. Mash the potatoes using a potato ricer, then spread out on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and let cool completely. You need 14 ounces or about 2 heaped cups (save the rest for another dish). Mix in the flour, salt, Parmesan, and olive oil. Slowly incorporate the egg until the mixture comes together to form a dough; you may not need all the egg. Lightly knead the dough on a floured surface until smooth. Divide into four balls. Roll each ball into a long sausage about ½ inch thick. Cut into ½-inch pieces. Roll each piece lightly between your palms to neaten the shape (you don’t have to make perfect rounds).
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and have ready a bowl of ice water. Blanch the gnocchi in batches until they float to the surface, 2–3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and immediately plunge into the ice water. Drain well, then toss in a bowl with a generous drizzle of olive oil and some seasoning.
- For the soup, bring the stock to a boil in a pot with a little salt and pepper. Tip in the crisp potato skins. Cover the pot and gently simmer until the skins have imparted their color and flavor to the stock, 30–40 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve into a clean pot. Discard the skins. When ready to serve, reheat the gnocchi in the potato-infused broth and simmer for a minute. Divide among warm bowls and garnish with spoonfuls of sour cream and minced chives.