Asparagus Soup

When I think Asparagus, I think pasta. Somehow they go well together. Just saute them or grill them with some garlic, the fresh green sticks always serve as a perfect accompaniment for any type of pasta. I've even made a pizza with Asparagus – link here in case you have not noticed before.

So, this time I wanted to put this bunch that sat in my fridge to good use and make something different with it. And so was born my dinner of a green creamy soup. I quickly googled for a recipe and came across this and liked it. Not too many fancy ingredients – I had everything I needed in my pantry. So, off I went and started dinner preparation.

Wash the spears well and chop off the thick stalk at the bottom – about 1 inch. A good test here is to chop of where the asparagus snaps perfectly – that way the thick part is out and all you have is tender goodness. I usually just place them all on the cutting board and chop off the last 1 inch of the spears. Easy and done. Then, chop all the spears again into little pieces.

Add these chopped asparagus pieces to a pan of boiling water and cook for about 3-4 mins. These tend to cook pretty fast so make sure it does not become super mushy. They should be mash able with the back of a spoon.

Drain out the cooked asparagus and move directly to a blender. Save some of that water for blending and for the soup. You can actually save it all and use as veggies stock for everything else that you add water to while cooking.

Cool down the spears and blend into a smooth soup consistency. Set aside.

In a soup pan, heat up 2 tbsps of butter.  When the butter melts, add 1 tbsp of all purpose flour or maida and stir well so that no lumps are formed. When this paste comes together, add 1 cup of milk to and whisk immediately again so that no lumps are formed. Heat this for a couple of mins until the rawness of the flour cooks away.

Once the white sauce starts boiling, add the pureed asparagus in here and whisk well. Reduce the heat to low and cook this for about 5-8 mins. Add the stock water to thin down the soup if it seems too thick. 

Add salt to taste and also add some fresh ground black pepper.

Serve the soup hot and you can also add a little parmesan on top for added punch to the soup. And of course, don’t forget those croutons.

You can make this really thick instead of a soupy consistency and just use it directly as a sauce for pasta. That would taste really good as well. Everyone in the family loved the soup and TH actually took more than two servings – that says a lot about it. My little one of course cribbed about how the green was not pretty – she liked the taste but wished it was just red in color like tomato soup. Now I have to go hunt for some red asparagus.

Enjoy. Peace Out!