Tomato-Bacon Bisque

Ingredients

2 oz Bacon about 2-3 rashers

1 tbsp Bacon Drippings from above

¹/₂ cups Onion diced

2 cloves Garlic minced

1 tbsp Tomato Paste optional

1 ¹/₂ cups Chicken Stock plus more for thinning if needed

2 tbsp Brown Sugar, Light or more, to taste

2 tbsp Milk, Whole or heavy cream

¹/₂ tsp Thyme, Fresh finely chopped

¹/₂ tsp Oregano, fresh finely chopped

1 tbsp Parsley, Flat-Leaf optional, for garnish

Steps

1 First, prepare your bacon. (If you're making the grilled cheese too, you might want to prepare all the bacon at once in this step.) You can either panfry it on the stove or bake it -- I like baking for ease of preparation. To bake, place the bacon strips on a rimmed baking sheet (foil-lined, if you prefer) or in a cast-iron skillet, then pop them in a cold oven (no need to preheat) and turn the oven to 400 degrees. Let bake for about 12-15 minutes, until fat is rendered and bacon is crisp. The crisper the better for the soup -- it purees smoother.
2 Drain and reserve the bacon fat from the bacon strips; set the strips aside. Heat one tablespoon of the bacon fat (or however much you'd like to sautÃ© with) in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onions and minced garlic, and sautÃ© until onions just begin to soften. Crumble two rashers of bacon into the pot and continue to cook for 20-30 seconds more.
3 Add the tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, chicken stock, grated Parmesan, and brown sugar, and stir to combine. Turn the heat to low and let simmer for 30 minutes.
4 Turn the heat off. Add the milk and Greek yogurt, then use an immersion blender or regular blender to puree the soup until uniform in texture. Season with salt, pepper, thyme, and oregano to taste, and adjust the soup with chicken stock if it's too thick for your liking. If the soup is tart, add a bit more brown sugar and another splash of milk or cream. Serve hot, or let cool and freeze for later.