I awoke to another chilly and damp fall morning, not that I’m complaining. Fall is my favorite season, after all. The smell of crisp autumn air; the sounds of honking geese and rustling leaves; and taste of warm comfort foods, like the potato and pancetta soup I made yesterday.

A thick broth of pureed vegetables, potatoes, and pancetta, the soup is perfect for a day like today when the body isn’t yet accustomed to the chill in the air. After it sat overnight and the flavors mingled, I took a taste and decided to add more diced pancetta for both flavor and texture. I added five more 1/4-inch slices, fried first in a skillet with a few sliced button mushrooms for garnish.

While I was at the butcher, I picked up a loaf of fresh ciabatta bread, a block of local Colby cheese, and a small wedge of goat gouda. Now, I LOVE me some gouda cheese, but I’d never had goat gouda before. Its texture and taste are completely different than traditional cow’s milk gouda, but as soon as I tasted it, I knew it would set off the soup perfectly. The Colby and ciabatta, I bought to make gourmet grilled cheese.

What better to accompany hot soup than soft, chewy ciabatta bread brushed with garlic olive oil, stuffed with creamy Colby cheese, and grilled to perfection in a panini press? Please tell me; I want to know.

You may ask how a huge pot of soup is cooking single. It may not be single in size, but it is in price. Especially this “peasant soup,” as it’s referred to in the cookbook from where my recipe originates, True Tuscan, by Cesare Casella. Think about it: potatoes, cheap; celery, cheap; carrots, cheap; tomatoes, homegrown. So that is my tip for the day:

Tip: Make soups in the winter. They fill you up without emptying your wallet. The little bit of pancetta (8 oz total) cost me about $8. Not bad for a huge pot of soup that will serve me one meal a day for a week. Will I get tired of potato soup? Yes. But that is why I will make different kinds of sandwiches to accompany it every day.

Recipe: Zuppa di patate (potato soup)
Recipe adapted from True Tuscan, by Cesare Casella

1 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1 cup chopped carrots
2 cups chopped celery
2 Tbsp chopped garlic
3 oz chopped pancetta (3/4 cup)
1 red bell or banana pepper, seeded and chopped
Pinch crushed red pepper
1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups canned tomatoes, drained and crushed; or 2 cups fresh chopped tomatoes
Salt
Black pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg
4-1/2 lb Idaho potatoes, peeled and diced
4 oz chopped pancetta
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 Tbsp basil chiffonade
1 cup shredded cheese (I used Colby)
Goat gouda cheese

In a food processor, puree onions through parsley, starting with half of the ingredients, then adding the rest to form a thick, coarse paste.

Heat a large stockpot over medium heat for two minutes, then coat the bottom of the pot with the 1/4 cup of olive oil. Add the pureed vegetables and saute over medium heat until the mixture starts to color, about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add wine and reduce by half, then add tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add the potatoes and 3 quarts of water or vegetable broth. Bring to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Pass the soup through a food mill, and return it to the stockpot. Cook it for 15 minutes more. Adjust the seasonings, and add the basil and the shredded cheese. Stir until cheese melts and combines into the soup.

While the soup is simmering, chop the remaining 4 oz of pancetta, and fry it in a skillet with sliced mushrooms. To serve, spoon soup into a bowl, and top with some of the pancetta and mushrooms, as well as a few crumbles of the goat gouda.

Recipe: Gourmet grilled cheese
Serves one

1 square ciabatta bread
1 Tbsp garlic olive oil
1/3 cup shredded Colby cheese
Freshly ground black pepper

Slice the ciabatta bread in half to form two slices of bread. Brush each slice, inside and out, with the garlic olive oil. Top one slice with cheese, and sprinkle with black pepper. Top with the other slice of bread. Grill in a skillet or on a panini press at 375 degrees.

Serve with soup: dip it, dunk it, dredge it, devour it.