Cream of Asparagus Soup Recipe
It’s impossible to think of any good meal, no matter how plain or elegant, without soup or bread in it.
M.F.K. Fischer
Soup is one of the healthiest, simplest and most good-for-you-ist foods you can make. A bowl of homemade soup, a slice of a bakery-fresh loaf of bread, and I’m good. As MFK Fischer shares, “Of course, bread and soup, being thus intrinsic to our survival, can be deeply personal things to the fortunate among us who are blessed with fearless memory.” Speaking of memories, I recall as a child, my mom making watercress soup. She would make it for fancy dinners, serving it with a dollop of cream and fresh cracked pepper. Her guests would ooh and ahh at how fancy and gourmet-like it was- how it was just as good, if not better than- the fancy French restaurant down on the lake. She would graciously receive all the compliments. But now that I know what I know. Now that I’ve made this soup myself, I’m certain that while wearing a big smile and receiving all those compliments, she said to herself, “Silly fools, if they only knew how easy it was.” That’s what she was really smiling about.
I can be hackneyed and cliched, I can tell you all there is about how there is nothing healthier when you are feeling ill and how soup is good for the soul, but you’ve heard it all before. But I will say this- you can round it out and make a full meal by also making a salad by adding some cheese and fruit to eat with the bread, or if you’re my husband, also sweet butter and jam to eat as dessert. And add a nice glass of wine, as the monks do. I would also tell you to add this into your weekly meal menu once or twice a week. You’ll feel and be lighter, certainly more satisfied, and since it’s quite inexpensive, your wallet will feel heavier- and I would even argue that soup makes you happier. I don’t really know why. It just does.
So let’s get to it.
The following asparagus soup recipe is a snap. You can double it and freeze half (before adding the cream). If you’re vegan, substitute the chicken broth with vegetable broth (and remove the cream). If you’re avoiding gluten, saute the leeks or onions without the flour, using only butter or olive oil. For variety, you can substitute broccoli, spinach, or cauliflower for the asparagus.
- 1 lb. of asparagus cut into 2-inch lengths
- 1 onion chopped or sliced “whites” of 3 leeks
- 2 Tablespoons each butter and flour
- 4 cups chicken broth
- ½ cup cream
- Salt and pepper to taste
CREAM OF ASPARAGUS SOUP
Saute onion and/or leeks and butter for 3 minutes. Stir in flour. Add chicken broth slowly. Add asparagus. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until asparagus is tender. Puree mixture until smooth, reheat if necessary. Add cream and/or olive oil, salt, and pepper to the pureed soup.
The sauteing begins…
Asparagus cleaned, chopped and at-the-ready.
More sauteing…
I buy a case of six Organic Chicken Stock from Costco to have on add.
Use enough chicken stock to cover the vegies, then bring to boil, the lower to a simmer. It takes 20ish minutes to soften the vegies.
If I make this in the evening, I will take it off the heat when it looks about like this, cover it and let it set overnight, allowing the flavors to do their thing.
Use can use the hand-held blender, but I prefer the stand-up kind (or a food processor), as it blends more evenly. (If blending while still hot, be careful not to burn yourself!)
At this point, you can pour the soup back into the pot to reheat and serve, or pour into containers to freeze the soup for another day.
I’ve found these Bonne Maman jam-jars to be the perfect single-size-serving, of which to freeze or refrigerate.
Eat soup first and eat it last,
and live till a hundred years be past.
- French Proverb
Jennifer Elliot
Copyright 2023
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