Emma Alter
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As I mentioned earlier, it's all about asparagus at our house this week. I think I've bought about five pounds of it this week alone. My family will be crying for mercy soon. I just keep scouring cookbooks and web sites looking for interesting things to do with it. I found this recipe in a soup cookbook that my mother gave me. I hardly ever use this book because the recipes are quite fussy and the garnishes are more like works of art than food stuffs.
So I was happy to find a straight forward recipe for asparagus soup, other than the chevre filled squash blossoms in tempura batter that you are supposed to whip up and put on top. The chef goes into great detail about how you build up a platform in the bottom of the soup bowl so that your squash blossom doesn't fall into the soup. There you go, scaffolding in the soup. You might well be wondering how I got the sour cream and chives to sit on top of the soup rather than sinking to the bottom in my photo. It's a secret, but be careful where you place your spoon.
I might actually return to this to try the recipe for the squash blossoms when they arrive at the farmers' market in a couple of weeks, although I suspect my family will be dubious as they always are when presented with that little delicacy.
This is a quick soup to make and you don't need any stock for it. You can serve it hot or cold, it's quite good either way
Asparagus Soup
2 tbsp unsalted butter1 small yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 bunches asparagus, about 1 1/2 lbs, trimmed and roughly chopped
4 cups milk
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
1/2 bunch spinach washed and trimmed
salt to taste
1/2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup heavy cream
1. Melt the butter in a saucepan set over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sweat for about 5 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the asparagus and cook until tender and bright green in colour, 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Add the milk and cayenne pepper, turn up the meat to medium high and bring to a simmer. Add the spinach and stir until it is wilted.
3. Remove from the pan and transfer soup in batches to a blender or use an immersion blender directly in the pot. Puree until smooth. Add the cream and season with salt and lemon juice.
From Simply Elegant Soup by George Morrone
Difficulty Level: Easy
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