My asparagus soup is unbelievably easy and creamy, but it’s made and not using a drop of cream. As an alternative, we mix collectively asparagus, potatoes, and a simple home made broth that’s gentle and aromatic. It’s wholesome, satisfying, and naturally vegetarian!
This asparagus soup recipe screams Spring and is one among my favourite asparagus recipes! It’s gentle on energy however has probably the most scrumptious, vivid, contemporary taste. Whereas I like wealthy, cream-based soups, generally I crave one thing a bit lighter. That’s the place this recipe shines. By utilizing potatoes as a substitute of cream, we obtain that very same silky texture with out the additional energy. I take advantage of the identical trick in our creamy vegetable soup and broccoli cheddar soup!
What’s much more spectacular is that this soup is extremely resourceful! We use the often-discarded elements of the asparagus and leeks (the robust ends and the darkish inexperienced tops) to create a flavorful broth that types the bottom of the soup. It’s a scrumptious technique to decrease waste and maximize style! For extra methods to prepare dinner with asparagus see our garlic roasted asparagus or my favourite asparagus omelette.
Key Components
Asparagus: Search for vibrant inexperienced spears with tightly closed, compact suggestions. A touch of purple on the ideas is a welcome signal, too! Keep away from asparagus that seems boring, yellowed, or has open flowering suggestions. Give the stalks a mild squeeze—they need to really feel agency and snap simply when bent. Limp or flexible asparagus is previous its prime.
Leeks: Consider leeks as candy, mellow onions. We’ll use the white and light-weight inexperienced elements within the soup and the harder darkish inexperienced tops for our asparagus broth. To wash leeks, trim the basis finish and the darkish inexperienced tops. Then, slice the leek lengthwise and rinse totally below operating water to take away any grit between the layers. Take a look at my article about the way to clear leeks for extra suggestions!
Carrot: One carrot provides a contact of sweetness and colour to our broth.
Garlic: I take advantage of garlic cloves each for the broth and within the soup itself.
Potatoes: These are the key to a brilliant creamy, silky asparagus soup! We skip the cream altogether and use potatoes, like russet or Yukon Gold, so as to add physique and a silky texture.
Spinach: Just a few handfuls of child spinach are good for including an additional vibrant inexperienced colour and a lift of vitamins to the soup. We add this on the very finish.
Lemon: I like serving asparagus soup with a squeeze of contemporary lemon juice on high. It brightens all the things up and makes the flavors style unbelievable.
Cheese (Elective): We now have used parmesan in our photographs, however a spoonful of ricotta or mascarpone cheese is wonderful.
The right way to Make Asparagus Soup
My asparagus soup is a straightforward two-part course of. First, we’ll make our easy asparagus broth utilizing the elements of asparagus and leek that you just’d usually toss within the trash. Then, we’ll use that straightforward broth to make our creamy soup.
The broth takes about half-hour and tastes gentle and contemporary. It’s made with the tops of leek, the stems of asparagus, a carrot, garlic cloves, and a bay leaf. Easy!
The soup comes collectively shortly. Cook dinner the white and light-weight inexperienced elements of a leek in a little bit of oil till comfortable, then comply with up with the garlic cloves used to make the broth, potatoes, and asparagus. Then, proper on the finish, when all the things is tender, add a number of handfuls of spinach. Mix till easy and serve with a squeeze of lemon and a few cheese (optionally available, however scrumptious).
Good Asparagus Soup
PREP
15mins
COOK
1hr
TOTAL
1hr 15mins
This straightforward asparagus soup is scrumptious, vegetarian, and minimizes waste. As an alternative of utilizing inventory to make the soup, we make a fast asparagus broth utilizing the asparagus and leek trimmings. The broth is delicate and aromatic and is the right technique to make use of trimmings as a substitute of throwing them away.
6 Servings
You Will Want
2 kilos asparagus
1 massive leek
1 medium carrot
2 garlic cloves, gently smashed
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced, about 1 pound
3 cups child spinach
Half of a lemon, reduce into wedges
Salt and contemporary floor black pepper
Parmesan cheese, ricotta, or mascarpone for garnish, optionally available
Instructions
Make Asparagus Broth
1Trim the dry, woody bottoms of the asparagus. To search out the place to trim, bend the stalks till they naturally snap. Minimize or snap at that time. Save the tops for the soup and add the stems to a big pot.
2Minimize the darkish inexperienced tops from the leek and rinse them properly to take away any grit. Add these to the pot with the asparagus stems. Rinse the leek’s lighter inexperienced and white elements and set them apart.
3Add the carrot, smashed garlic clove, bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper to the pot.
4Cowl with 9 cups of water and produce to a boil. Scale back the warmth, cowl, and simmer for 25 minutes. Season to style with salt, including a little bit at a time till you may style the broth’s flavors with out it being overly salty. Pressure the broth and reserve the garlic cloves.
Make Asparagus Soup
1Thinly slice the reserved white and light-weight inexperienced elements of the leek.
2Warmth the olive oil in a big soup pot or Dutch oven over medium warmth.
3Add the sliced leeks and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Cook dinner, stirring usually, till softened and aromatic, about 5 minutes.
4Stir within the reserved garlic cloves and prepare dinner for yet another minute. Add the potatoes and 6 cups of the asparagus broth (save the remaining for thinning later). Carry to a boil, then cut back warmth and simmer, coated, till the potatoes are very tender, about 20 minutes.
5In the meantime, reduce the ideas from 12 asparagus spears measuring about 1 ½ inches from the highest. Set these apart for garnish. Roughly chop the remaining asparagus.
6As soon as the potatoes are tender, stir within the chopped asparagus (not the reserved suggestions) and simmer till tender-crisp and vivid inexperienced.
7Take away from the warmth and stir within the spinach till wilted however nonetheless vivid inexperienced, about 1 minute. Mix the soup till easy utilizing an immersion blender (or an everyday blender in batches).
8Style and season with extra salt and pepper as wanted. If the soup is simply too thick, skinny it with the reserved asparagus broth, 1/4 cup at a time.
9Simply earlier than serving, prepare dinner the reserved asparagus suggestions in boiling salted water till tender-crisp and vivid inexperienced (about 3 minutes). Rinse with chilly water to cease the cooking.
10Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with the asparagus suggestions and cheese (optionally available). Serve with a lemon wedge for squeezing excessive.
Adam and Joanne’s Ideas
Mixing the soup: I take advantage of an immersion blender. Should you use a stand blender, keep in mind to mix in batches. In case your soup is sizzling whereas mixing, you need to take away the lid’s middle insert and canopy it with a kitchen towel whereas mixing, serving to a few of the steam launch and stopping the lid from popping off (which generally is a massive, sizzling mess).
Leftover broth: Use it in different soups to prepare dinner rice or grains or make risotto.
The vitamin details offered under are estimates. We did embody 1 tablespoon of parmesan cheese within the calculations for every serving (there are 6 servings complete). We omitted salt from the calculations since you could add to your tastes.
Vitamin Per Serving
Energy
149
/
Protein
6g
/
Carbohydrate
20g
/
Dietary Fiber
4g
/
Sugars
3g
/
Complete Fats
6g
/
Saturated Fats
2g
/
Ldl cholesterol
3mg