A creamy, flavorful seasonal soup that is finished in the blender to make a smooth mixture. It has few ingredients and keeps well for a few days in the refrigerator.
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In my kitchen, asparagus fall under seasonal, finger food, which means I lightly roast them and eat them straight up.
Fresh and shaved in a salad is another fantastic way to eat it, something I learned from one of Alice Waters books.
But the keyword is seasonal.
And it means I can eat the whole stalk, there's no bending to see where it breaks and discarding most of it.
Or you can make this soup.
That is a simple and good soup, even without seasonal vegetables. I know since my asparagus wasn't super in season, not fit for a raw shaved salad let me tell you.
We're making asparagus soup, a recipe adapted from cookbook author and baker extraordinaire Dorie Greenspan.
Whole or peeled asparagus?
That depends on how in season and good the skin is on yours.
- Peeling asparagus: it's laborious for the results. The asparagus is peeled, blanched, put in ice water not to lose color, which depends a lot on the bright green (or not) the vegetables have by themselves, and then cooked with the usual suspects, onion, leek, garlic, shallot, a broth made with the discards until all is very soft, especially the leek.
- Unpeeled asparagus: you simply follow the steps without the peeling and broth parts. In the end, you can strain the soup after it's blended to discard any hard parts that might've remained.
Blending the soup
The last stop is the blender, where the asparagus mixture becomes creamy and smooth.
This is a necessary step that I don't recommend you skip.
I recommend you use an immersion blender and mix it in the pot you cooked it.
Serving asparagus soup
A dollop of whipped cream (no sugar), sour cream, or creme fraiche is the way to go together with a few roasted asparagus tips as I did, which should be added at the last moment as they tend to sink pretty quickly.
The bonus is that it can be served either hot or at room temperature.
And the extra bonus is that if this was good with average, out-of-season asparagus, it must be very good with very good ones.
Because as Alain Ducasse said, How do you make the best peach tart? with the best peaches.
PrintAsparagus Soup
A creamy, flavorful seasonal soup that is finished in the blender to make a smooth mixture. It has few ingredients and keeps well for a few days in the refrigerator.
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 2 ½ pounds green asparagus (the more in season the better the flavor)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ cup chopped leeks (white and light green parts)
- ⅓ cup onion, thinly sliced
- 1 shallot, sliced
- 1 garlic clove, sliced
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 5-6 cups vegetable broth, homemade or store-bought
Instructions
- Bend the asparagus stalks until they snap. Keep the parts with the tips. Discard the rest.
- Have the broth simmer slowly in a medium pot.
- In a large pot over medium-low heat, add the butter and oil until they meld, and add the leeks, onion, shallot, and garlic.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste and cook until they soften but not letting them brown, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the asparagus, stir, and add 4 cups of the broth.
- Let it simmer and cook, covered, for about 10 minutes.
- Uncover the pot and let it cook for 5 more minutes, or until the asparagus are soft.
- Check for seasonings and adjust.
- Remove from the heat and blend in the pot using the immersion blender. If using a regular blender work in batches. Be careful as some blender jars do not admit very hot mixtures. If that is the case for you, you'll have to wait until the mixture has cooled down.
- Check again for seasonings and adjust and add more broth until you have the consistency you like.
- Serve with some unsweetened whipped cream or a dollop of sour cream or creme fraiche.
Notes
- Seasonings: make it spicier by adding some paprika at the end.
- Creamier: add some cream when you blend it to make it richer.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Soups
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: French
Cakelaw says
Asparagus is out of season here too, hence is quite expensive. Glad you enjoyed the soup.
Andrea_TheKitchenLioness says
Paula, what a perfectly lovely presentation of your fabulous green asparagus soup. It does have a very velvety texture and a wonderful fresh color. We adore asparagus as well but we almost only get white stalks around here and we are lucky because we are in the middle of asparagus season right now until mid-June and then there is no more of this lovely vegetable available anywhere.
Have a fabulous weekend!
Teresa says
It's unfortunate that our recipe schedule is so often out of synch for our Southern Hemisphere Doristas - we should have a reverse season month where you and Sanya and Gaye get to decide the month's menu based on what's in season in the South.
The Ninja Baker says
Great post, Paula! I am inspired - truly. Now I want to shave bits of asparagus onto my salad. Or roast the skinny little stalks..Last and not least, your soup looks divine and to one whose palate is not as refined as yours I bet deee-licious!
Bam's Kitchen says
Great delicate asparagus soup. The asparagus in HK seems to be coming from Thailand and does seem to lack in flavour and is tough. I long for the great asparagus from Europe this time of the year. I bet this would taste wonderful with white asparagus as well.
ayu | the spicy lemongrass says
Your soup looks so elegant Paula. I'm glad you enjoyed it even with off season asparagus. Mine seemed to be lacking in flavour sadly.
Medeja says
I still look bit suspicious to asparagus, I am just not used to so many vegetables 🙂
Looks like a great soup 🙂
Guyla says
Beautiful pictures Paula. I ended up using frozen asparagus and it worked fine. Glad you are enjoying fall!
gaaarp says
Your soup looks great! I really enjoyed this recipe, especially with fresh, seasonal asparagus. I'm interested in trying it cold, but if I keep eating it, there won't be any left soon!
Alice @ Hip Foodie Mom says
Paula,
this soup looks fabulous. . we love asparagus! I must ask- what are those lovely pita/chip bread crackers next to the soup? did you make those?
Paula says
They are called `sailor crackers´ and have been around forever here. I just buy them. They are hard crackers that last forever! Guess they were used back in the day when sailing for months... who knows
Amy Andrews says
What a beautiful little bowl of soup! Nice. Enjoy the weekend.
Liz Berg says
Yup, a bit fussy for the end result. Gorgeous photos, Paula!
Deb says
I have never made asparagus soup, preferring to enjoy the entire stalk roasted or in a quick saute. Perhaps this is a recipe to try on a summer foggy evening as it looks so vibrant in your photos!
Anne ~ Uni Homemaker says
Beautiful photos Paula! And I absolutely adore asparagus. Sauteing them is my favorite way of eating them. Have a stellar weekend! 🙂
Cher Rockwell says
Seasonal foods are a blessing and a curse - they are glorious when they are in season (no matter how brief), but so sad when they are out of season.
Your soup looks absolutely lovely - beautiful color.
Susan Lester says
Your photography is just beautiful, Paula. I'm so glad you agreed with me. I think the sauteing adds flavor as well.
Have a lovely weekend!
Ei says
Ooh, you're lucky. My asparagus was flavorless, and so was the soup. Yick. Though I've made the soup before, and liked it. Still, it's a lot of work and waste for a soup.
Silvia says
Me encantan los espárragos. Y como siempre digo, cuando hay espárragos y alcauciles hay que aprovechar porque la temporada es muy corta.
La frase de A. Ducasse es genial y completamente acertada. E cocina, pienso, que funciona a la perfección eso de menos es más, por lo que es preferible poca cantidad de ingredientes pero de alta calidad.
¡Buen fin de semana!
Helene Dsouza says
Ah I wish I could get asparagus here. Rarely I mean really rarely they sell white asparagus here in goa but those look terribly sick. I used to dislike this veggie except if my mum would make a ham roll out of it. In time I learned to love a creamy asparagus soup. Love your pics Paula, I jsut wish I could make some too.
Carol | a cup of mascarpone says
What a beautiful, lovely soup, Paula! I adore asparagus...and it's so good for you! Have a great weekend!