Quick and Easy Smoked Salmon Soup

A delicious, smooth creamy soup with no cream, full of flavour and really easy to make. I make with milk and butter, but can be done with fish stock and oil if you want to avoid dairy (I've not tried, so cannot comment on comparative taste). Essentially a white onion sauce, with salmon added and blitzed up for a smooth, tasty soup. Using salmon trimmings makes this very cheap too but nothing to stop you using more expensive cuts if you so wish. Scales up very easily to make a large batch for a family get together, and goes down VERY WELL with some fresh bread. Hubby now insists that I make this every weekend as his Saturday lunchtime treat! Very easy so no bother.

• Ready In: 22 mins
• Serves: 4
• Yields: 4 bowls

Ingredients

• 250  g smoked salmon, cheap trimmings are absolutely fine
• 2 -3  large red onions
• 75  g butter or 75  g  oil or 75  g margarine
• 2  tablespoons flour
• 1 1⁄2 pints milk or 1 1⁄2 pints  fish stock, vary to suit preference on consistency
• 1  tablespoon lemon juice (optional)
• 1  dash wine (optional)
• 1  teaspoon parsley (optional)
•  salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Chop the onions finely, place in a pan with the butter (or oil) and saute until soft. Add the wine and lemon juice, and reduce.
2. Keeping a low heat, add the flour to the buttery onions and stir in til you have a stiff onion paste. Then gradually add the milk until you have a white sauce of a consistency you want (soup will be thicker than the sauce is now, once you've blended in the salmon and onions). Add the packs of salmon and stir for 3-5 mins to warm/cook through. Blend with a stick blender until smooth. Add the parsley, season to your liking, and cook gently for another 5 minutes.
3. If you like stronger tastes, just increase the quantity of salmon and/or onions as you see fit. Can substitute leeks or shallots for onions, or any other smoked fish for the salmon as you wish.