With a combination of sweet and smoky, this cream of parsnip soup with sage and smoked salmon is the perfect winter soup. It’s velvety, hearty, healthy and flavourful, and so easy to make, what more could you wish for?
Happy New Year Everyone! Hope you had a wonderful holiday season and are excited to start 2016!
Sorry for the lengthy radio silence, but first I had a small ankle injury, which kept me busy and off my feet for a few weeks, then the holidays rolled around and life got crazy hectic. I am dead serious, with the Boyfriend we got around to finally spend some quiet hours at home and gift each other our presents only on December 29th!
So all my dreams of spending a quiet, peaceful Christmas reading on the couch in front of our Christmas tree didn’t happen. *sighs* But I have great plans for 2016, so bring it on!
I’m sure that with all the holiday festivities and family meals most of you want to start the New Year on a healthy note, well this cream of parsnip soup is not only healthy but so deliciously velvety, that it will feel decadent and festive.
The smoked salmon adds a bit of woody saltiness, and it was my secret weapon to make the Boyfriend try and eat this veggie soup. Mission accomplished: he tried it, liked it, and asked for repeats! 😉
It doesn’t hurt that the combination of parsnip and potato makes this soup sweet and velvety, and another added bonus of this recipe is that it’s quite simple. This soup comes together in less than 30 minutes and kids and adult will enjoy it alike (just skip adding the salmon if your kids aren’t fan of it).
- 1 lb (or 500 gr) parsnip
- 3-4 bigger potatoes
- a cc. 9 inch leek (or 3-4 scallions or 1 onion) *
- 8 cups (or 2 litres) water or (vegetable) broth **
- 1 cup (or 2 decilitre) cream ***
- 1 tbsp sage (fresh or dried)
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 6 oz (or 150 gr) smoked salmon ****
- few branches of fresh dill
- Peel, wash and dice the parsnip, potatoes and leek.
- Heat the olive oil in a pan, add the leek (or scallions/onion if you use that), sauté until translucent.
- Add the parsnip, potatoes and sage to the leek and cook for 5-6 minutes.
- Pour the water or (vegetable) broth over the vegetables, season with salt and pepper, cover the pan and let it simmer for about 20 minutes until the parsnip and potatoes have softened.
- If the vegetables are cooked through, pour the soup in your blender (or you can use your immersion blender) and puree until smooth. (Be careful as not to burn yourself, or if you have time, you can let the soup cool down before pureeing it.)
- Cut up the salmon into bite sized bits and add them, as well as the cream to the pureed soup. Stir well and if you find the soup too thick add some tablespoons of water/broth as well as salt if needed.
- Serve warm, topped with salmon bits and sprinkled with fresh dill. Enjoy!
** If you have broth or vegetable broth at home, feel free to use that for a more flavourful taste, but if you don't have either simply pour water on top of the vegetables and let them infuse the water with their taste.
*** You may use non-dairy cream if you wish.
**** For a more intense salmon flavour you may add some salmon bits to the vegetables as they are cooking, that way the taste of the salmon will be much more pronounced.
This is a beautiful soup…I love the idea of adding smoked salmon. I hope you are feeling better and heal quickly 🙂
Thank you Sandi! Any recipe that features salmon is an instant hit with my Boyfriend, he’s such a fan of it 🙂
This looks lovely, and so simple! I totally get the holiday chaos thing. I’ve either been out of state or had company for almost a month! Happy 2016, and I wish you rest and relaxation!
Sorry to hear you’ve had a chaotic holiday season too Tamara, hopefully with 2016 you can get some rest and quiet time as well! 🙂
Oh wow! Thats a super unique recipe! I have never heard of dressing a soup up with smoked salmon but it looks delicious 🙂
Hm.. now that you mention it I haven’t encountered other soups with salmon either. But somehow with this recipe the inspiration just came and the salmon’s smokiness contrasts nicely with the earty sweetness of the parsnip. 😉
I just discovered parsnip (can you believe it?) and loving it so much I want to try cooking it in different ways! I will do soup next as inspired by your recipe. Hope your ankle is healing well. Happy new year, Stella! 🙂
Enjoy tasting the many facets of parsnip Christine! 🙂
I love roasting it in the oven with other (root) vegetables like carrots, beets, potatoes, broccoli, pepper, mushrooms. Then I always add some to my (vegetable) broth. I just posted another recipe featuring parsnip: this Oriental Lentil Casserole, you should try it, it has such a unique but delicious flavour combination, anyone who has tasted it asked for more! http://stelliciouslife.com/index.php/2016/01/10/oriental-lentil-casserole/
Happy New Year to you as well Christine! 🙂
What a great sounding dish, I usually go one of two routes for a parsnip soup, the first being curried and the second being Balsamic… But love the idea of sage, it will perfectly compliment the sweetness of the parsnip!
Oh, that sounds wonderful!
I love cream of parsnip soup, but the salmon brings it in a new direction… I have to try this.
My mom used to make cream of parsnip soup, but I haven’t had it in years! Seeing this (with the delicious topping of smoked salmon)is definitely bringing back memories, it looks delicious!!