Like many other posters, I put my own twist on this, but I found it didn't need much. I was extremely pleased with the results. I sprinkled the shrimp with a little bit of Old Bay seasoning and sauteed them with shrimp. I also added a small splash of white wine into the pan with the mushrooms (used an 8-ounce can since my family really likes them.) I was able to find the Cream of Shrimp soup at Wal-Mart and thought that really was essential to the dish. If you can't find it, I'd suggest using Shrimp Bisque or something similar, not the Cream of Mushroom soup. I also used all the sour cream the recipe called for and had no problem. Topped it with sharp cheddar. I thought it made a bit too much for an 8x8 pan, so I used my regular 9x13. It worked fine.

Reviewed On: Mar. 15, 2009

No doubt my hubby would have given this one 5 stars. He adored it. I thought it was good, but not great. I only had two 14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes, so I used those along with a 28-oz. can of traditional spaghetti sauce. I thought the tomato flavor somewhat overwhelmed the garlic and basil. Wish I had added more. That said, I do think I will make this again.

Reviewed On: Mar. 13, 2009

Loved the recipe, although I made several changes. First of all, I cut the recipe by 1/2. My favorite change was an addition of 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce, as suggested in a similar recipe on another site. Added the perfect touch. Other changes were due to what I happened to have in my pantry: -Substituted fresh potatoes for canned, sliced potatoes, drained. (I used 2 cans for my half-recipe.) -Substituted processed cubed cheese to a 3-cup bag of shredded cheddar. -Used half the butter, but added a little olive oil to increase the smoking point. -Used a shallot instead of an onion, and added the cut up smoked sausage to that to brown it a bit before adding the rest of the ingredients. I noticed that using the potato masher turned out to be key here. Really helped thicken this, although I did use a bit of corn starch paste at the end as well. This turned out to be the perfect thick, hearty sausage-potato chowder. Will make again!

Reviewed On: Feb. 27, 2009