Well it’s kind of spring. The abundance of asparagus in the stores tells us it’s spring, but the weather…eh not so much. One day it’s sunny and warm, trees and flowers are budding, then the next day it’s snowing. This week I made a creamy asparagus soup and it matches the weather too, you can serve it hot or cold.
Cheryl had been asking for a soup like this and since there hasn’t been much cooking going on the past couple of weeks, I was chomping at the bit to make something special. Had lots of ideas too like sauté the asparagus tips with some lemon zest and ginger, use some truffle cream instead of regular cream, and blend in fresh herbs to the puree. Sounds good right?
Alas, my grand ideas were reined in by a busy week as well as continued construction. I am amazed at how much not having sink can really crimp your kitchen style. I can get around a lot of things like lack of countertops but man does not having a sink suck. Yeah, yeah, first world problem.
Anyway, I pretty much threw this soup together in about 30 minutes for a weeknight dinner. And despite being unable to give it the attention I wanted, Cheryl liked it. At the end of the day that’s what matter most!
Kitchen update: pretty much everything has been installed except the counter-top, which is being delivered and installed next week. Then the last course of tile and grouting. It looks really good so far and we’re very happy. Just want it to be done already. I think we can start putting stuff back into the kitchen though so that should help me feel more normal.
Creamy Asparagus Soup (makes 6-8 servings)
- 3 lbs asparagus, tips trimmed and set aside, stalks chopped
- 5 C water
- Salt and pepper
- ¾ -1 C parsley leaves
- ½ C cream
- 1 Tbs sherry/dry vermouth
- 1 Tbs red wine vinegar
- 2 Tbs butter
Place the chopped up asparagus stalks in a large pot and cover with the water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Cook until tender. Remove from heat, do not drain.
If you have a stick/immersion blender place it in the pot and puree the asparagus. Add the parsley leaves and continue blending. [If you don’t have a stick blender, use a food processor, or blender, or food mill to puree the asparagus.]
Stir in the cream. Bring soup back to a simmer over low heat. Stir and cook for a few minutes to thicken.
When ready to serve, stir in the sherry/vermouth and red wine vinegar.
In a separate pan melt the butter and add the asparagus tips. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté over medium high heat until they start to get a little crispy.
Ladle the soup over the sautéed asparagus tips.
The Roaming GastroGnome 