Potato Tomato Pesto Soup

1. Cut 2 of the potatoes into cubes and boil them in water. While they’re boiling, make the bacon, pesto, and potato crisps.
2. To make the pesto, mix the basil, olive oil, pine nuts, and parmesan cheese in a food processor (or you can do it with a knife, but that takes longer and you get a nicer texture from a food processor). All of the ingredients may not fit all at once so it’s ok to do it in batches and mix them after they’ve been chopped.
3. Slice the last potato into thin slices and add some salt and pepper.
4. When the potatoes are soft enough to easily stick a fork into them, drain the water then return the pot to the stove and mash the potatoes (you can make the soup very smooth and more soup-like, or leave the potatoes in large chunks, or anything in between). Add the soup, milk, and pesto.
5. At this point the bacon should be done, so take it out of the pan to cool and add the potato slices.
6. The potatoes are done when they’re crispy and brown. While they’re cooking, crumble the cooked bacon and add half to the soup.
7. When everything is done, sprinkle your soup with potato crisps and bacon!

This soup tastes best after it has had some time to sit and mix all the flavors together; you can really taste the pesto and bacon the next day. I also had some kind of basil vinaigrette dressing that I drizzled on and that tasted awesome; wish I knew how to make it.