Ah…the wonders of spring and the bounty of fresh veggies. I love fresh asparagus and recently had an abundant stash so made this Cream of Roasted Asparagus Soup with Garlic & Parmesan and it’s our new favorite.
I mentioned yesterday that I had a plethora of snapped off ends of asparagus last week and ended up making this soup with it. For that occasion I had two pounds of asparagus so almost had enough ends to make a full batch of soup. That being said, I would also use the entire spears too; I just thought it was perfect that I was able to salvage those ends and create something so delicious for dinner.
If you want to do what I did, simply prepare the asparagus knowing you’ll still use the ends. The first task is to remove the very ends of the stalk; those are too dried out to be good for anything but the trash.
Once they’re removed, go ahead and separate the tender tops parts from the tougher bottom stalk. That’s easy to do when they’re raw. I’ve seen lots of ways to do this including doing one and using it as a template for the whole stalk, cutting the rest to the same size. The only problem for me with that easier and quicker method is that I’ve never found them to all snap at the same place…so I just do one at a time; it goes pretty quick.
If you’ve not done this before, simply grasp the spear at the bottom and bend using both hands about 2-3 inches from the bottom; the spear will naturally snap where the tougher end meets the more tender flesh. Sort of fun actually…not sure why but I enjoy doing it!
You can see why I prefer snapping to cutting; look at all of the variances in the length!
When I made the Grilled Asparagus; I put the spears straight on the grill but I used a grill pan like this one for the shorter pieces. I did have 2 pounds of asparagus last week so this worked like a charm since the smaller, tougher ends actually need to cook a bit longer. This time around I still had to cook them longer but I was also using the majority of the spears for the recipe since I had purchased a much smaller bunch.
The bottom line is that however they are prepared, you’ll need a total of about 2 pounds for this recipe…which is easily cut in half too!
I’m glad I made a larger batch; my neighbor Amy is too…we both loved it! I had a last little bit leftover last night too and I was tired. I ate it cold…and it was good! Might be just the thing for a spring brunch?
Cream of Roasted Asparagus Soup with Garlic & Parmesan
15 min
10 min
25 mins
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 lbs asparagus, ends trimmed, stalks snapped to separate
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 4 cups (approximately 1 can) chicken stock
- 2 oz. Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Garnish
- Cooked Asparagus Tips
- Parmesan Cheese
Directions
- Heat a large saucepan or skillet over medium-high heat and add the butter and olive oil.
- Add the asparagus to the pan and roast on the stovetop until beginning to soften; approximately 4-5 minutes. If Im including the tougher end stalks, I put those in the pan first and cook for 2-3 minutes before adding the tender pieces.
- Add the onion to the pan and stir until translucent. Add the garlic and stir an additional minute. Season with salt and pepper.
- Put the pan ingredients into a blender (or use an immersion blender) and add the chicken stock. Cover and blend until smooth.
- Add the Parmesan and whipping cream and blend just until smooth.
- Return to the pan and heat until warm. Garnish with asparagus tips and Parmesan cheese.
Recipe Notes
This is also great using grilled asparagus spears. If you use grilled spears, simply cook the onions and garlic and then add those with the spears and broth to your blender.
