Creamy Parmesan Asparagus Soup with Caramelized Onions and Miso

A week and a half ago was what I consider the unofficial start to spring. It was the first week that asparagus showed up at the farmer's market! In my mind, asparagus heralds the return of the fresh produce of spring and a glimpse of what's to come. I eat asparagus continuously from when it first shows up in April or May until the season is over in June. I really never grow tired of it. And I refuse to buy it any other time of the year. What excitement this little vegetable brings. 

The day after I brought my first bunch of asparagus home was a cold and rainy day. I decided that this meant it was time for this absolutely delicious, creamy and filling soup. Asparagus cooked in a some chicken broth until tender, then pureed until smooth with a little miso, maple syrup and parmesan cheese. A simply perfect combination to really showcase this wonderful vegetable in a different way. 

I wanted to keep this soup fairly simple to allow the asparagus to really shine. I thought the miso would be a great way to add some depth and seasoning at the same time, the maple syrup and caramelized onions were important for that little bit of sweetness that most soups call for, and the parmesan cheese was the icing on the cake to really add some cheesy, creamy goodness. That's really about it. Blend it all together until smooth and dinner is served. With some nice crusty bread of course!

Creamy Parmesan Asparagus Soup with Caramelized Onions and Miso
From Delectably Mine
Ingredients

• 1/2 medium onion, sliced thin
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon white miso
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup, optional
• 1 small garlic clove, lightly crushed
• 1/4-1/3 pound asparagus
• 2-3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
• Olive oil
• Salt

Directions
Heat a small frying pan over medium heat. Once hot, add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Let it heat for 30 seconds. Add the onions and a pinch or two of kosher salt. Stir to combine. Let Cook for 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned and caramelize, adding a splash of water as needed to deglaze the bottom of the pan. 

Meanwhile, heat the stock and water over medium-high heat until simmering. Add the miso, maple syrup if using, and garlic. Cut the asparagus into roughly 1 inch pieces. Add the asparagus to the hot stock mixture and let cook until tender, 15-20 minutes. When the onions are fully caramelized, add them to the pot with the asparagus. 

Once the asparagus is tender, transfer the entire mixture to a blender. Add the parmesan cheese and blend on high speed until completely smooth and creamy. (I went for about 5 minutes with my Vitamix. You might need to go longer with a less powerful blender). During the last minute of blending, slowly pour in an additional 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil while the blender is still running to allow the oil to completely emulsify into the soup. 

Once completely smooth, transfer soup to soup bowls and garnish with additional parmesan cheese and a drizzle of good, fruity olive oil. 

Serves: 1-2

Asparagus Vichyssoise

When the asparagus starts showing up at the farmer's market every year I know I have made it. Spring has (un)officially arrived and warmer weather is on the way. Now it's the middle of June and I've been buying asparagus almost every week at the farmer's market. It's been great!! This past week I decided to try something new with my asparagus, something I've never done before - making a vichyssoise. Of course I was familiar with the name vichyssoise, and I had a vague sense of what this soup was, but until this past week I couldn't have really defined it exactly. Well now I know!

I was excited to try this asparagus vichyssoise first of all because I love asparagus, and second of all because it gave me another opportunity to use my new favorite kitchen toy, a new Vitamix blender! I used some graduation money to splurge on a Vitamix a few weeks ago and have been loving it! It was the perfect tool to make this smooth and creamy soup. So, what I now know about vichyssoise is that it is traditionally a creamy potato leek leak soup that is eaten cold. This was basically that with the wonderful addition of asparagus. There is just a tiny bit of cream and a little Greek yogurt to help make it really nice and creamy with just a bit of tang from the yogurt. A wonderfully healthy and light soup for a hot spring day. 

This is a very simple recipe that does not require a lot of hands on time. All you really need to do is cut up a few veggies, throw them in a pot with some stock and let them cook for a good 40-50 minutes. Then blend away until very smooth with some cream and yogurt and move to the fridge to get nice and chilled. You can garnish with some extra shaved asparagus or a little dollop of cream or yogurt, or a drizzle of olive oil, whatever sounds good to you. I have no doubt you will enjoy this delicious and refreshing spring soup.  

Asparagus Vichyssoise
Adapted from Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi
Ingredients

• 1 leek
• 1/2 pound asparagus
• 1 small potato, peeled and diced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cream
• 3 tablespoons Greek yogurt
• 40g samphire
• Grated zest of ½ lemon

Directions
Peel the potato and dice roughly. Chop off and discard the tough green ends of the leeks. Cut through the pale center, then wash well and slice roughly. Trim off and discard the woody base of the asparagus. Cut all but two of the spears into 3/4-inch pieces, keeping the tips separate. Reserve whole spears.

Place the vegetables, except for the asparagus tips and reserved whole spears, with the butter in a medium saucepan and sauté on medium heat for about 4 minutes; make sure they don’t take on any color. Cover the vegetables with the stock and add the sugar and some salt and white pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered, for 40 minutes. At the end of this time add the asparagus tips and continue cooking for 10 minutes.

Once done, blitz the soup well in a blender until very smooth. Gently fold in the cream and half the yogurt. Allow the soup to come to room temperature, then chill.

While the soup is cooling down, bring a pan of water to the boil and blanch the reserved asparagus for 2 minutes; drain and refresh under plenty of cold water. Shred.

Pour the chilled soup into bowls and serve with a dollop of yogurt swirled in and topped with the shredded asparagus and lemon zest if desired.