Roasted Cream of Asparagus Soup

Plan Z Phase: This is a Z2 (Reduction) recipe.

It may not feel like it here in Chicago, but spring and asparagus season are just around the corner. Gear up with this flavorful soup.

Serves: Serves 4. Each serving is 1-1/2 cups

Ingredients:

  • 2 bunches of asparagus
  • 2 shallots, minced (approximately ½ cup minced)
  • 2 cups of organic stock (chicken or vegetable)
  • 1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce
  • 4 dashes of hot sauce
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • ½ tsp of celery salt
  • water
  • ¼ cup of whipping cream
  • ¼ cup of sour cream

Instructions:

Cut the asparagus into 1” chunks and put that in an oven-proof pan. Spray all very lightly with olive oil, season with sea salt and roast for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Set aside to cool.

While the asparagus is roasting….

In a large sauce pan, spray lightly with olive oil. Then add the shallots. Cook on medium-high just until loosened. Then add the stock, Worcestershire, hot sauce and garlic with the celery salt. Cook on medium high to blend flavors and slightly reduce the stock. This will deepen the flavor of our soup. Will only take about 10 minutes.

When the asparagus is cooler you will put the chopped asparagus with a ½ cup of water in a blender or food processor to puree. Be careful if you decide to blend while the asparagus is hot. This can be dangerous. I always put a towel over the top, hold it down with my hand and turn it on low to begin. The as some of it gets blended you can ratchet up the speed.

When the asparagus is completely pureed (you may have to do it in two batches) add it to your soup. Stir to blend. Then add as much water as you’d like to get it to a consistency you like. I added about 2 cups. If you add at least 2 cups of water you can have 1-1/2 cups of soup as your portion.

Heat the soup. When you go to serve it, put in the cream and sour cream and stir. This will add a creaminess to the flavor. The cream and sour cream add up to 8 Tbl, which will equal a serving for 4 people and no other cream in your day. If that’s not the case, factor it into your serving size. If you are having a protein on the side you can cut your serving back to a ½ cup or even 1/3 cup so you don’t go over your cream allotment. You can also make this  with no cream or no sour cream or leave out both and then you are less limited in your serving options.

Enjoy!

Cheers,