Cheesy Potato Soup

Cheesy Potato Soup from CT Class of 2011

Ingredients:

• 6 Golden Potatoes, washed, scrubbed, peeled, and chopped to half-dollar-sized pieces
• 1 cup of baby carrots, medium chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup half-and-half
• 1 can of chicken broth
• 1/4 cup onions, finely chopped
• 2-3 teaspoons of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon celery seed
• 4 tablespoons salt
• 4 tablespoons pepper
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation:

1. In a small pot, boil water with chopped carrots until soft. At the same time in a large sauce pot, boil water with chopped potatoes. In each case, when boiling point is reached, lower to medium high heat. When carrots are soft, strain and put on the side. Add the water from cooking carrots to boiling potatoes.
2. In a saucepan, sauté onions and garlic in oil on low heat until golden brown. Add 1/8 of can of chicken broth to onions and garlic, still on low heat. Let sit for 5 minutes then add half-and-half. Stir. Add celery seed, salt, and pepper to onion broth mixture. Stir.
3. When potatoes are soft and break easily when punctured with a fork, strain them. Save the remaining potato broth! Remove some smaller potato slices and join them with the set-aside carrots. Mash the majority of the potato slices until mostly smooth.
4. Combine onion broth mixture with mashed potatoes. Alternate adding potato broth and chicken broth to the potato-onion mixture as needed until creamy. Stir after each addition.
5. Mix in the carrots and potato slices to the potato soup. Add cheddar and mozzarella cheese. Stir.
6. Add extra salt, pepper, celery seed, and cheese to taste.

Note: Best served when freshly made. You can refrigerate leftover soup in a corning dish and reheat it in a pot for the new few days. If you have excess potato broth or soup broth, add 1/2 a cup or so when reheating.

Submitted by CT Class of 2011