Cream of Asparagus Soup

Another soup from my "Soup" cookbook by Love Food.  This recipe is easy and the soup comes out so well.  It is worth the time to make; you will never make the canned version again.                          

Ingredients:

1 bunch asparagus, about 3/4 lb
3 cups vegetable stock
1/4 cup butter
1 onion, finely diced
3 TBS flour
1/4 tsp coriander
1 TBS fresh lemon juice
2 cups milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
salt
pepper

Here's how:

Cut the tips off the asparagus and peel any woody stems.  Cut the remaining asparagus into 1/2 inch pieces.

Whole spears

Stems cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Stems

Boil a small pot of salted water and cook the tips in the water for 10 minutes.

Tips in the pot

Remove from the heat and drain, reserving the tips.

Place the rest of the asparagus and stock into a medium sized pot.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

Asparagus into the stock

After 20 minutes

Strain the asparagus and reserve the stock.

Strained asparagus. Do not throw out the stock!

In another soup pot, melt the butter.  Add in the onion and cook on low until soft, about 5 minutes.  Do not brown the onions. 

Diced onions

Onions in the butter

Add the flour and cook for one minute.

Add the reserved stock into the flour mixture, stirring constantly to prevent lumps.

Stock added in and stirring

Bring this to a boil and then lower the heat.

Add the cooked asparagus, coriander, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Ingredients in

All stirred in

 Simmer for 10 minutes.

Turn off the heat and puree the soup using an immersion blender.  You can use a blender, but make sure you cool the soup first.

Immersion blender pureeing the soup

Soup all pureed

 Add the milk and reserved tips. Bring to a boil.

Mix in the milk and tips

Simmer for 2 minutes. 

Add the cream, stir it in. 

Cream added

Ready to eat!

Serve.