Red Pepper Gouda Soup

This is one of my favorite recipes. We ate this soup at Gardner Village, and found a similar recipe online and tweaked it until we got it right. It is a little time consuming, but well worth the effort. Goes well with a baguette. Serves 4-6.

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons butter
4 red bell peppers, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
24 fluid ounces chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups shredded gouda cheese

DIRECTIONS
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Place the red bell pepper, onion and garlic in the saucepan and sauté for 15 to 20 minutes, or until tender.
Pour in the chicken broth, stirring well, reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Transfer to a blender and puree until smooth.
Return the liquid to the saucepan over medium low heat. Stir in the heavy cream, the ground black pepper and cheese, and allow to heat through, about 5 to 10 minutes.