Baked Potato Soup

A delicious version of my favourite soup at Tony Roma's - adapted from a recipe posted on Top Secret Recipes.  They use cornstarch to thicken it while I just like to use extra potatoes and blend them with my immersion blender before adding the cut potatoes.  That way the onions get blended too and no one has to worry about onion chunks :)

I need to take a picture next time I make it so you'll have a visual...


BAKED POTATO SOUP
3-4 med potatoes (baked) (3-4 cups chopped)
3 Tbsp butter
1 cup white onion, diced
2 Tbsp flour
4 cups chicken stock (I like to use my homemade chicken soup broth)
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups mashed potatoes
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp basil
1/8 tsp thyme
1 cup half-and-half cream

Garnish
shredded cheese
crumbled cooked bacon
chopped onion greens

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake the potatoes for one hour or until done. Cool.
As potatoes cool prepare soup by melting butter in a large saucepan and saute onion until light brown. Add the flour to the onions and stir to make a roux.
Add chicken stock, water, mashed potatoes (or I some of the chopped potato and use the immersion blender to make a smooth stock) and spices to the pot and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Cut the potatoes in half, scoop out the potato and chop into 1/2-inch sized cubes. Add potatoes and half-and-half to the soup and bring back to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer another 15 minutes or until thick.

To serve, spoon soup into a bowl and top with shredded cheese, bacon and onion bits.
The only other touch I may add is seasoned croutons!

ENJOY!!!