A Hearty Turkish Soup for an Autumn Day

I made this soup the other night for some dinner guests.  It's adapted from the gorgeous Complete Book of Turkish Cooking by Ghillie Basan that I received from my sister-in-law as she was downsizing her recipe book collection (gasp!).  We had the soup at the start of the meal and I'm pretty sure it was the favored dish of the night.  It is a very comforting soup for a chilly evening.  While I often substitute cow dairy with non-dairy, I didn't this time.  I suppose you could try with coconut milk, but you might not get the intended flavor (too much sweetness).  Other non-dairy milks may work too, but you may not get the body.  If you do try it, let me know in the comments!  Recipe follows and made plenty for four as a first course.

1 TB olive oil
3 leeks, trimmed, washed, & roughly chopped
1 TB yellow onion, chopped
1 tsp sugar
1 bunch of fresh dill, chopped reserving  a few fronds for garnish
2 1/2 cups water
1 1/4 cup whole milk
4 ounces good quality sheep's milk feta cheese, crumbled
Plenty of black pepper and some paprika to garnish

Heat the oil in a heavy soup pot and stir in the chopped leeks and onion.  Cook for about 10 minutes, until vegetables are soft.

Add the sugar and the chopped dill, and pour in the water.  Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer about 15 minutes.  Leave the liquid to cool a bit, then process everything in a blender until you've got a smooth puree.

Return the pureed soup to the pan, pour in the milk and stir over a gentle heat until it's hot (careful NOT to let it boil).  Season with a little salt (very little as the feta should be plenty salty), and lots of black pepper.  

Ladle soup into bowls and top with crumbled feta and a sprinkle of paprika and dill  fronds and serve.