Baked Potato Soup

I haven't tried this yet, but it looks great. I found it at www.topsecretrecipes.com.

• Ready In: 1 hr 30 mins
• Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 2  medium potatoes (about 2 cups chopped)
• 2  tablespoons butter
• 1  cup  diced  white onion
• 2  tablespoons flour
• 4  cups  chicken stock
• 2  cups water
• 1⁄4 cup cornstarch
• 1 1⁄2 cups instant mashed potatoes
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 3⁄4 teaspoon pepper
• 1⁄2 teaspoon basil
• 1⁄8 teaspoon thyme
• 1  cup half-and-half

• For garnish

• 1⁄2 cup  shredded cheddar cheese
• 1⁄4 cup  crumbled  cooked bacon (as a mostly-vegetarian, I would omit this) (optional)
• 2  green onions, chopped (green part only!)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake the potatoes for an hour, or until done.
2. When potatoes have cooked remove them from oven to cool.
3. As potatoes cool, melting butter in large saucepan, and saute onion until light brown.
4. Add the flour to the onions and stir.
5. Add stock, water, cornstarch, mashed potato flakes, and spices to the pot and bring to a boil.
6. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
7. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out contents with a large spoon.
8. Discard skin.
9. Chop baked potato with a large knife to make chunks that are about 1/2-inch in size.
10. Add chopped baked potato and half and half to saucepan, bring soup back to a boil, and then reduce heat and simmer the soup for another 15 minutes or until it is thick.
11. Spoon about 1 1/2 cups of soup into a bowl and top with about a tablespoon of shredded cheddar cheese, a 1/2 tbs of bacon (if you want!) and a teaspoon or so of chopped green onion.