Potato Soup with Almonds, Garlic and Lemon

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve

¼ cup slivered OR sliced almonds

1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and cut into ¾-inch chunks

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

8 medium garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

1 quart low-sodium chicken broth OR vegetable broth

½ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped, plus more to serve

⅓ cup lemon juice

Directions

In a medium saucepan, combine 2 tablespoons oil and the almonds. Place the pan over medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the almonds to a small bowl; set aside.

To the oil remaining in the pan, stir in the potatoes, onion, garlic, and ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cover and cook over medium, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes begin to soften, about 10 minutes.

Add half of the almonds, the broth and 1 cup water; bring to a simmer over medium-high. Cover, reduce to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until a skewer inserted into the potatoes meets no resistance, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool, uncovered, for about 5 minutes.

Stir the parsley into the soup base. Using a blender and working in 2 or 3 batches to avoid overfilling the jar, puree the mixture until smooth. Return the soup to the pot and warm over low, stirring, until heated through. Stir in the lemon juice, then taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve sprinkled with additional parsley and the remaining almonds and drizzled with additional oil.

Notes

The Greek dip called skordalia is a puree of potatoes and garlic that’s enriched with a generous amount of olive oil. Occasionally nuts are added, and oftentimes lemon juice or vinegar, to lift the flavors. This pantry-friendly recipe takes those ingredients and turns them into a simple, flavorful soup. For safer pureeing—that is, to avoid hot liquid spouting out the top of the blender jar—allow the soup base to cool for about 5 minutes before blending, and process it in batches. You can use an immersion blender, if you own one, to puree the soup directly in the pot but the texture won’t be quite as silky-smooth.