Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘asparagus soup’

Asparagus soup–(without photos!)

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, tagged on May 21, 2013| 9 Comments »

Guests are arriving for lunch.

We are hoping to eat outside shaded from the May sunshine (ha! ha!) by the new parasol.

No chance!

However…

Yesterday I made a soup from half a kilo of asparagus, as an experiment–keen to find something different to do with it during the season.

It is raining today and cold–time for soup?

Meredith tasted it this morning–

Just enough for five–she said–it’ll warm everyone up on a chilly day!

We could have some roasted spears on the side–I said.

YES!– she said

and no need for a sauce!–I said, always looking to cut down the workload!

2 leeks–cleaned and chopped roughly

1tbsp olive oil

1lb/450gm asparagus–the tough ends removed, chopped roughly

1 litre/2 pints stock–I use organic vegetable stock cubes

1 tbsp fresh tarragon–chopped fine

salt and pepper

1 tbsp creme fraiche

  • Sweat the leeks in the olive oil over a gentle heat, in a covered saucepan–five minutes.
  • Add the asparagus and stock.
  • Bring to a simmer and cook until the asparagus is just tender.
  • Season carefully.
  • Liquidize–best done with a hand held stick liquidizer (if you have one).
  • Fold in the creme fraiche and tarragon.
  • Gently reheat to serve–with roasted spears on the side if you like.

ps–off to Italy tomorrow for a short break, a change of scenery and a recharging of the culinary batteries?

IMG_6355

Ciao!!

14333412-italian-vintage-car

Read Full Post »

Asparagus Soup

Posted in Food, Recipes, tagged , , on May 25, 2011| Leave a Comment »

A simple soup for a jet-lagged cook to prepare for guests who are arriving tonight.

Soup is a good option when people may have had asparagus just once too often–towards the end of the season.

You can add the parmesan to the soup and heat it through before serving or–as suggested–leave to the guests to add to their bowls.

for 4

450gms/1lb asparagus–woody stalk ends and tips removed

1/2 a small onion–chopped

1 clove of garlic–chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 oz butter

450ml/1 pint stock–I use organic vegetable stock cubes

225ml/1/2 pint asparagus “water”–that in which you have simmered the woody stalk ends and the tips

salt

100gms/4 oz prosciutto–diced and sautéed to crisp

100gms/4 oz  parmesan cheese–grated

  • Simmer the stalk ends in 225ml /1/2 pint of water, covered, for 20 minutes.
  • Discard the stalks and–
  • –using the same  water, simmer the tips, covered, until tender–about 5 minutes– keep the water and reserve the tips to serve with the soup.
  • Sweat the onion and the garlic gently, covered, in the oil and butter for 5 minutes.
  • Add the asparagus and a little salt (remembering that the stock cubes will have salt in them) and sweat, covered, for a further 5 minutes.
  • Add the drained asparagus water and the stock, cover and cook gently for 20 minutes.
  • Liquidise the soup to a smooth finish.
  • Serve–hot–with the tips, the cheese and the prosciutto on the side, for guests to add as they please.

Read Full Post »