Four Cheese Soup

Are there countries somewhere where people don't eat cheese on a regular basis? If so, I'm glad I don't live there. I love the stuff. I'm not too keen on the fancy-pancy cheese, but boy do I love the regular kinds of cheese. I was perusing online for a good soup recipe to put into my bread bowls today, and I came across "Cheesy Soup" on foodnetwork.com. Good Golly, Miss Molly. It was cheesy and creamy, and wonderful. My husband's thoughts, "I think that is my new favorite soup." Nice! I think I agree with him. I made a few changes to the recipe, but for the most part, it is the same.
Four cheese soup:
2 T butter
1/4 c shallot or onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 c chicken broth
1 large red potato, peeled and diced
1 c heavy cream
1 c Vitamin D milk
3/4 c provolone
3/4 c mozzarella
3/4 c cheddar
1/2 c Parmesan Cheese
2 t minced fresh basil

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and add the onions and garlic. Cook for about a minute. Add the chicken broth and diced potato and bring to a boil. I was in a hurry when I was making this, so I diced the potatoes in about 1/2 inch cubes and simmered it for only ten minutes. If you're not in a hurry, I would dice them to about 1 inch cubes. Reduce the heat and simmer for 25 minutes so the potatoes cook.

Puree about 2 c of soup at a time in the blender. This eliminates the chunks of onion or potato.
A hint for you- don't try to put it all in the blender while it's still hot. I did that, and when I turned it on, the top came off and hot soup flew out! AHH! I'm sure you would love to see pictures of that one. :) Put the soup back in the pot.

Mmm... Add the cream and milk. Mmm... Simmer for five minutes. Add the four cheeses and the fresh basil. Stir until the cheese is melted.

The soup was a bit too thin for me, so I added some cor starch- not right to the soup. Scoop out about 1/4 c of soup out and put it in a bowl. Add about 2 T corn starch and stir to combine. Pour it into the soup. Simmer for five minutes. It ill thicken up. If it still isn't the consistency you like, repeat the cornstarch process until it reaches a consistency you like.

Sorry I didn't take more pictures. I go visit people on Thursday nights around 5:30, so I'm always rushed at dinner time. Although rushed, it's still delicious. I put it in the bread bowls (see post under yeast breads) and garnished with fresh basil. Yum!