asparagus soup

I do love to make soup and for Easter this year, I celebrated spring with a tasty asparagus soup. This soup, adapted from an excellent Williams-Sonoma cookbook titled "Soup for Supper," is incredibly easy to make and rich despite the lack of cream. Here's how to make it:

3 bunches of asparagus* (2.5 - 3lbs), tough ends removed

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1.5 cups peeled and diced russet potato (~1 large potato)

3-4 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1/2 cup milk

chives

creme fraiche

salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut off tips of the asparagus spears. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the asparagus tips and boil for 2 minutes. Drain and immediately immerse the tips in cold water to stop the cooking. Drain, pat dry, and set aside.

2. Cut the remaining asparagus into 2-inch pieces. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter. Add the asparagus pieces (not the tips!), stirring occasionally until well coated with the butter, 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the potato and 3 cups of broth. Cover the pot, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the asparagus and potato are very tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender or food processor. (Or if you have an immersion blender, that works well, too.) Return the soup to the saucepan, add the milk and as much of the additional broth as needed to achieve the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper and reheat over low heat.

4. While the soup is reheating, melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in a small pan over medium heat. Add asparagus spears, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the asparagus spears are heated through - about 2 minutes. Stir asparagus tips into soup.

5. Ladle the soup into bowls, top with a dollop of craime fraiche and snipped chives.

serves 6

*I prefer the thick stemmed asparagus, but the pencil thin ones can work here, too.