Each season brings a new reason … to make soup!
In the case of spring, what could be more representative of the burgeoning green glory all around us than asparagus? How about certified organic asparagus hand-picked at a local family farm that’s been in business for 39 years? Mazak Farms is located between London and St. Thomas (that’s in Ontario, Canada for those of you who erroneously picture me with an English accent).
As fond as I am of asparagus, I’m afraid I’ve been preparing it pretty much the same way for years: grilled or roasted, with olive oil, lemon and sometimes garlic.
A thoughtful friend (thank you, Paulie!) gave us just over a pound of the delectable spears from Mazak Farms a few days ago. Having been felled with a bout of bronchitis, all I wanted to eat was soup. I also wanted the flavour of asparagus to shine through, so kept the ingredients and seasonings to a minimum.
This is a simple, dairy-free creamy soup, the texture achieved through pureeing. Although creamy, it still has a bit of texture to it which adds interest. To bump up the green, I added a couple of handfuls of baby spinach right at the very end, making for a pretty soup with bright green flecks floating throughout a paler green base.
What can I say, it’s springtime in a bowl!
As if the flavour and nutritive value of this soup aren’t reasons enough to eat the whole bowlful, it’s a simple pleasure to see the birds and flowers painted on the china bowl emerge as another reward for eating it all up.
Asparagus Soup with Spinach
To trim the woody ends off asparagus, hold the spear in the middle with your left hand and bend the bottom of the spear with your right hand until the fibrous end snaps off. Simple! (Or, reverse left and right — it’s up to you!)
- 2 tbsp grapeseed oil
- 1 large (very large) yellow cooking onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 4 stalks celery, thinly sliced
- about 1 lb asparagus, trimmed and chopped into 1-inch pieces
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 900 ml vegetable stock (low sodium)
- 500 ml water
- 2 handfuls baby spinach
Heat the oil over medium heat in a large soup pot. Add the onion and garlic, and cook for several minutes until the onion starts to turn translucent. Avoid browning. Add the celery and asparagus, salt and pepper. Let cook for a few minutes before adding the stock and water.
Bring the soup to a boil, then cover and simmer on low for 30 minutes. Stir in the spinach; it will wilt right away. Using an immersion blender, puree until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasonings if required.
The soup looks delicious! 🙂
Thank you – we quite enjoyed it.
You are welcome! 🙂
Great recipe! I love your addition of spinach, and seeing the bits of green in the soup. Pretty bowl!
Thank you, Mimi. The spinach was an inspired last-minute addition to pump up the colour a bit. I was happy with how it turned out.
I’m definitely going to be making this…I love asparagus especially! Have a great weekend Marlene 🙂
The best compliment a food blogger can receive is hearing that someone plans to or has made one of their recipes. I hope you enjoy this easy soup. With fresh local asparagus in abundance, it’s nice to have some different ways to use it (and I have at least one more recipe coming before long!)
I’ll let you know when I make it Marlene, and yes, perfect time of the year for fresh, local asparagus…the best 😀
Not feeling great and on a soft food diet for a couple of days. This soup was perfect. Fast and easy to make and it’s delicious. Thanks Marlene for this wonderful recipe.
I hope you’re feeling better, Sharon. I’m glad the soup worked so well for you. Funny, I made it to help with my convalescence. There’s something so comforting about soup when you’re not feeling your best.
I thought your soup was so pretty in your bowl but even prettier when it was finished. I love the recipe and the beautiful bowl. Hope you are feeling better.
The bowl really added to the experience of this soup. When I retired (early, early I say!) last year, my co-workers gifted me with a collection of china plates and bowls in different patterns to use for my food photography. I generally prefer plain white dishes, but every once in a while I use one of these for an extra-special touch. I thought the delicate asparagus soup was a good choice for this delicate and charming china bowl.
Yum yum yuuumm YUM!
I tend to add a bit of cream to my soup, but now I’m just going to add spinach! (oh, and perhaps a teeny-weeny dollop of creme fraiche, which is hardly any calories at all.)
Your bowl is a so much fancier version of the reason my grandmother always got me to finish my little glass of milk when no one else could get me to do that (eek, I hated milk); she had a glass with a happy, smiling Pebbles Flintstone at the bottom, looking up at me, making me think of her singing “Let the Sun Shine In”
Oh, I just love the story of your grandmother coaxing you to drink your milk with that special cup. It made me smile, as did the video of Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm singing that sweet song — a little nostalgia for a Monday evening. Thank you for sharing that!
Funny, my ‘cream’ soups never have cream in them. Sometimes milk (even skim), but I always get the creaminess by using one of my favourite appliances, the immersion blender. This soup would be a little heartier with the addition of a potato, should you be so inclined. But hey, if you want to add cream or creme fraiche, go ahead — it can only make it even better!
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I won’t lie, I’ve been running away from soup since I got sick lol.. but as soon as I read asparagus and spinach, I couldn’t help but stop into this post. DELISH!
Glad to hear it appealed to you. Hope you feel better!
Now that’s a compliment — thank you! Hope being sick is just a distant memory now.
[…] […]
[…] was a lot of asparagus in my fridge recently. A lot. So what to do? I could have used it in soup, or in a frittata, or had it simply grilled in a salad, but I wanted something a little more […]
[…] was a lot of asparagus in my fridge recently. A lot. So what to do? I could have used it in soup, or in a frittata, or had it simply grilled in a salad, but I wanted something a little more […]
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