Rustic Potato Soup

Despite my lack of a blender or even a potato masher, I was determined to make a creamy potato soup last night. It would be chunky... no, not chunky... RUSTIC. Photos will be uploaded tonight.

Rustic Potato Soup
Olive oil
1 small onion, sliced into think chunks
About 2 pounds of potatoes, peeled and diced
2-3 carrots, sliced into half moons
Water, ideally filtered
Heavy (or light) cream
Salt and pepper

Without a Blender...
In a soup pot, saute half of the onion in the olive oil till golden. Add potatoes and carrots and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then let simmer till the potatoes and carrots are tender. Pick out the onion slices. Transfer potatoes and carrots to a pot in small batches, adding some of the water from the pot and some of the heavy cream. Mash with a potato masher OR the back of a plastic spoon. Mash away and add more liquid till you reach the desired consistency. I used all of the "broth" and maybe 1/2 cup of cream. It was harder to mash up the carrots, so it was basically a slightly chunky potato base with carrots. Season with lots of salt and pepper.

I also fried up the remaining onion half and used that as garnish.

If you are some sort of king or rich noble person and actually own a blender (God, I'm jealous of you...), then you can make the same soup and it's slightly easier.

Blender Directions
In a soup pot, saute the onion in the olive oil till golden. Add potatoes and carrots and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then let simmer till the potatoes and carrots are tender. Transfer vegetables to a blender in small batches, adding some of the water from the pot and some of the heavy cream. Blend till smooth, adding more liquid till you reach the desired consistency. Season with lots of salt and pepper. Fry the remaining onion in olive oil and use as a garnish.