Who has a good asparagus soup recipe?

So I have various ends of asparagi and some nice new asparagus as well, and I thought, let's make asparagus soup. So I looked at some recipes online and I found a bunch. And they all read like this:

Ingredients
3 pounds fresh asparagus, rinsed
8 cups chicken stock

Excuse me, I'm making soup here. And chicken stock IS soup. Telling me to make soup by starting with soup is like telling me the way to make a birthday cake is, first, buy one birthday cake. I don't want my asparagus soup to taste like green chicken soup. I want it to taste like asparagus, pure, beautiful spring asparagus.

But Mike, you say, you have a freezer full of Thomas Keller vegetable stock, what's the difference? You're right, I do, but I don't think of that as vegetable soup. It's a flavor enhancer, a seasoning. It makes asparagus soup more like asparagus. Not more like poultry.

So who has a recipe for asparagus soup that sings of spring (not cock-a-doodle-do's)?

Step 1: make Kennyz's stock for asparagus risotto
Step 2: don't add to risotto, puree (maybe remove the rinds. maybe.)
Step 3: profit

When I've made scratch asparagus soup to accompany a grill night in the past I like to add a few grill-charred spears for garnish, or even puree them and add in for some smokiness. I find cream is not needed.

Take about 6 c. of your Keller vegetable stock, add an onion, bay, herbs if you want, half a lemon, and the ends from 1 lb. of asparagus. I think that's a good start for a base. Simmer for 1 hour or so, or until the flavors suit you (as we know, Mike, Keller believes vegetables have nothing to give after 40 minutes, so you might want to simmer it for 40 minutes). Remove vegetables/herbs from stock. Cut remainder of asparagus into 1" pieces, steam until tender, then puree with a little stock.

In pan, saute 1 minced onion or shallots in 2 T. butter. Add stock and asparagus puree. Simmer for another 1/2 hour or so. Add 1-2 T. cream (or to desired texture), nutmeg, salt and pepper. The end result should taste like asparagus!

1. Make asparagus stock: Do NOT use chicken stock for this step. Simply simmer lots of asparagus bottoms in plain water with a little chopped onion and lemon. Chicken broth will not allow the asparugus flavor to shine as intensely. Simmer this for about 1.5 hours, then strain.

Wow, that Kennyz recipe couldn't be more perfect, could it? Thanks.

You could omit the cream for a cleaner taste.

Thanks also, Wendy. Good stuff there too.

Mike G wrote:

1. Make asparagus stock: Do NOT use chicken stock for this step. Simply simmer lots of asparagus bottoms in plain water with a little chopped onion and lemon. Chicken broth will not allow the asparugus flavor to shine as intensely. Simmer this for about 1.5 hours, then strain.

Wow, that Kennyz recipe couldn't be more perfect, could it? Thanks.

I can make it slightly more perfect: sub leeks for onion. I don't think this matters in the risotto usage, but I think it's better for the soup you want.

Save a bunch of tips. Just before serving steam (or *very carefully* microwave) just slightly enough to take the rawness off them. Add to the bowls as you serve. A scattering of chopped chive wouldn't hurt, either.

One of the simplest soups in the world. Oh boy. Ah, almost forgot: I add the tiniest dollop of creme fraiche just before I scatter the chive choppings.

Geo

I really like this creamy roasted asparagus soup recipe. The peach salsa really isn't necessary. I found it on the internet somewhere and copied it into my online recipe book.

Roasted Asparagus Soup with Peach-Tomato Salsa
Serves 3

- 2 bunches of asparagus
- 2 handfuls of sliced leeks
- Olive Oil
- Cracked Black Pepper
- Salt
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Heavy Whipping Cream
- Chicken Broth

For Salsa

- 3 vine tomatoes
- 1 can of peaches (you'll end up using about a quarter of it)
- 1 Lime
- Pinch of salt

For asparagus, run the asparagus under warm water to clean and then, using both hands, bend the stalk so that it breaks towards the bottom. This is a great way to cut off the bad parts. Rough chop the leeks. Put the asparagus and leeks on a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil, salt, and cracked black pepper. Mix everybody up and then send it into the oven (425 F). Occasionally stir this mixture and after about 30-40 minutes the asparagus should be ready.

In the meantime, "gut" the tomatoes and cut the skin into cubes. Cut the peaches up into cubes/squares, mix with the tomatoes, sprinkle with salt and squeeze half of a lime over the mixture. Toss and set aside (you'll need to drain this mixture as the tomatoes release liquid)

Once asparagus and leeks have cooled down, put into a soup pot, pour enough broth to make the asparagus just barely swim, and take a hand-mixer and go to town. Once mixture is pureed, put on stove and turn on the heat to medium. Taste and add desired level of red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Let simmer. Then, get the soup boiling before adding just a touch of cream. Chill soup. Once chilled, pour into bowls and put the peach-tomato salsa on top. Serve.

Okay, so I made it via the Kennyz method early on and the Aschie30 method to finish, and it came out pretty well. The initial stock from the ends was kind of thin, maybe I just used too much water, but once I added some Keller veg stock and the pureed spears, it was pretty nice and certainly tasted like fresh, bright green asparagus. I did use a shallot at the end and later wished I hadn't, it's a lot stronger than the leeks. Anyway, thanks for the tips.

This is my favorite asparagus soup recipe, from the Zuni Cafe cookbook. The pancetta works great with the asparagus.

Mingus Rude wrote:This is my favorite asparagus soup recipe, from the Zuni Cafe cookbook. The pancetta works great with the asparagus.

That sounds tasty enough, but it's misnamed. It should be called chicken soup, not asparagus soup. If I ordered asparagus soup at Zuni and got this, I'd be tempted to send it back.