Cream of Asparagus soup
Asparagus are the young shoots of a cultivated lily plant. They're considered to be one of the delicacies of the vegetable world, with a price tag to match, and have a distinct, intense nutty flavour. Young, very slender asparagus are often called as Sprue. Sprue needs no preparation other than a good wash. Simply wash then and add to any pasta or vegan dishes at the last minute. The larger asparagus needs a little bit of working on them. Trim the asparagus discarding the bottom woody part of the stem. If the stem seems a bit tough to cut, then peel the out green portion with your usual potato peeler. This way the tough woody parts are removed and you are left with the delicate meaty interiors.
What you'll need :
1 bunch asparagus 1 tbsp finely chopped onions 2 cups of water 1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp butter Salt and pepper as per taste
How to :
Cut the stems into inch sized pieces. Keep around 7-8 tips aside to garnish. Blanch the rest in boiling water for around 10 min and a tsp of salt. Allow the mixture to cool. Keep aside a 1/4 of the asparagus blanched stems aside. Mash it a little using a vegetable masher.
In a blender, puree the rest of the asparagus along with the water used for boiling. Most of the water would have already evaporated during blanching and there may be very little left while making the puree. Make sure to use no more than 1/2 cup water.
Melt a little butter in a pan and sauté the chopped onions. Once it starts changing color, add the puree, the masher asparagus, 1/2 cup milk and give it a good stir. Once the soup comes to boil turn off the heat and season with salt and pepper. If you want the soup to be creamy, puree the entire blanched asparagus. I love a bit of texture in the soup and so I add the blanched pieces to the creamy soup. It makes me feel the soup is filling and I can simply have it as a meal rather than as a starter ;)
In another pan, add little butter and add the asparagus heads. The heads are very tender and they hardly need any cooking. Season with salt and pepper and stir fry for about 2 min on high heat.
Pour the soup into a bowl and garnish with the sautéed asparagus heads.
