I love the velvety texture of this soup - especially since you don’t need to use cream in the recipe.  It’s hard to tell from the picture but there is quite a bit of salmon in the soup - I just chose to use larger chunks of the salmon and they sunk to the bottom.  It’s terrific for lunch but is hearty enough to have for dinner with a salad.

This soup was based on a recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks - Donna Hay’s The Instant Cook.  I did vary it though - I used baby Vidalia onions instead of leeks, half of the milk from her recipe, and twice the dill.  I also chose to use the flakier smoked salmon rather than the smoked salmon that is somewhat like lox.

Creamy Potato and Smoked Salmon Soup

Serves 4

2 tsps. butter
1 leek or small Vidalia onion, chopped
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
4 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups milk
3 Tbls. chopped dill
3 Tbls. lemon juice
5 oz. smoked salmon, in pieces
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the butter and leek or onion over medium-high heat and cook for 4 minutes or until soft.  Add the potatoes, and stock, cover and simmer for 8 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.  Place the mixture in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.  Return the mixture to the saucepan, add the milk, dill and lemon juice and heat until hot.  Stir in the salmon, salt and pepper and serve.

Tags: fish chowder, potato soup, Vichysoisse