Tony Roma’s Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients
2 Medium potatoes about (2 cups chopped)
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup diced onion
2 tablespoons flour
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
¼ cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups instant mashed potatoes
1 teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon basil
1/8 teaspoon thyme
1 cup half and half

Garnish: ½ cup shredded cheese
¼ cup crumbled bacon
2 green onions, chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 400º and bake the potatoes for one hour or until done. When potatoes have cooked removed them from the oven to cool.
As potatoes cool prepare soup by melting butter in a large saucepan, and sauté onion until lightly brown. Add the flour to the onions and stir to make a roux.
Add stock, water, cornstarch, mashed potatoes, and spices to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Cut potatoes to half lengthwise and scoop out contents with a large spoon. Discard skin. Chop baked potato with a large knife to make chunks that are about ½ inch in size.
Add chopped baked potato and half-and-half to the saucepan, bring soup back to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer the soup for another 15 minutes or until it is thick.
Spoon about 1 ½ cups of soup into a bowl and top with about a tablespoon of shredded cheddar cheese, a half tablespoon of crumbled bacon and a teaspoon or so of chopped green onion. Repeat for remaining servings.