Roasted Garlic, Potato and Smoked Salmon Soup

This mouth-watering Roasted Garlic, Potato and Smoked Salmon soup will make you crave more!

Ingredients

1 whole head garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup onion, diced
1 carrot, finely chopped
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
4 large new potatoes, cut into ½ inch cubes
½ teaspoon dried rosemary
¼ teaspoon ground thyme
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup smoked salmon, canned or fresh, cut into bite-size pieces
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 green onion, thinly sliced

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Cut off the top of the head of garlic to expose the cloves. You may need to trim individual cloves along the sides of the head. Brush the cut cloves with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, then nestle the head into a piece of aluminum foil. Bake in oven until the cloves are tender and nicely browned, about 20 minutes.

Remove roasted garlic from the oven, carefully open the foil and allow to cool slightly. When garlic is cool enough to handle, cut the head in half horizontally so that all of the cloves are exposed. Squeeze both halves to release the roasted cloves into a medium bowl.

While garlic is roasting, heat remaining 1-tablespoon olive oil in a large saucepan. Stir in the onion and the carrot and cook, stirring until soft, about 5 minutes. Pour the chicken broth into the saucepan and add the potatoes, rosemary and thyme. Bring the soup to a simmer over medium heat and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

Remove about ½ of the potatoes from the pot and reserve. Place the roasted garlic cloves into a blender and add the soup, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the contents moving before letting it run. Puree the soup in small batches, until smooth. Pour into a clean pot. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the soup right in the cooking pot.

Stir in the reserved potato cubes, heavy cream and smoked salmon into the pureed soup and bring to a simmer. Serve hot, with a sprinkle of green onion.

Makes 4 servings

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