16° outside means soup, inside.  And soup, it was today!  I came up with a quick potato soup at work today (Thanks, Joe!) that we’ll serve in a week or so and on the way home decided I already had the ingredients at home to make one tonight.  I suppose I could have garnished it and made the picture look prettier, but I didn’t.  And the soup was damned good!

Roasted Potato Soup

• 3 medium potatoes, washed and cubed (unpeeled)
• 1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• handful of mushrooms
• 6 cups milk (I used non-fat)
• 1 cup diced ham
• 1 cup peas
• 1 cup shredded cheese (I used quattro formaggio)
• salt and pepper, to taste

Mix potatoes, onion, mushrooms, and garlic with olive oil and place on sheet pan.  Roast at 400° for about 30 minutes.

Place roasted vegetables in pot with about a quart of milk and bring to boil.  When potatoes are completely tender, mix with an immersion blender until of desired consistency.  Add ahm and peas and heat through.

Stir in cheese and heat.  Thin with more milk, as desired.

Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper, if desired.

We still had half a loaf of the Beer Bread I made on Monday, so dinner was served.

This was definitely one of those dishes that just comes together in no time at all.  I put the veggies in the oven, set the timer and checked email.  The timer went off, the veggies came out of the oven and the soup was on the table in ten minutes.  No-brainer cooking at its finest.

And there’s still bread pudding for dessert!