Chilled Asparagus Soup. Sounds so very posh, doesn’t it? One would never know that I whipped up a batch of this velvety rich pottage for medicinal purposes. Hubby came home from dental surgery with the prescription to eat cold, soft foods for a few days. How many smoothies and bowls of ice cream can a person eat? Especially one that prefers savory to sweet. Not many. So off I went to the market to find something nutritious to create. I came home with two gorgeous bunches of asparagus plus all of the fixings that became a delicious soup in less than an hour, prep included. Add an hour to chill and by dinner time the healing process had begun.
Now, if you prefer to eat this hot from the stove, it’s just as delicious. Or warm. Or room temperature. Pureed vegetable soups of all kinds are so very versatile. And quick to prepare.
Here are some pro tips:
- Choose asparagus that is bright green, with tight flowering tips for freshness.
- Prep all of your ingredients before you start cooking.
- Clean the leeks well, as they often have dirt between the layers. Make sure to dry them before sautéing, so they don’t steam cook.
- You can replace the leeks with yellow onion, though the taste will be a bit different as leeks are milder and sweeter. Use one cup of chopped yellow onion in place of the 1 1/2 cups chopped leeks.
- ”Sweating” leeks/onions requires a low temperature to prevent browning. Be patient, they will soften and become translucent.
- The cup of diced potato adds creaminess and body to the soup without adding additional fat. I prefer russet potato for this.
- Let the vegan sour cream come to room temperature while prepping the veggies. This will make it easier to incorporate into the soup.
- You can add many different toppings to this soup. I chose snipped chives. Other toppings that would be delicious include; chopped fresh herbs such as dill or Italian parsley, lemon zest, a swirl of Extra Virgin olive oil, a dollop of vegan sour cream, and/or croutons. Cooks choice.
- I highly recommend investing in a good immersion blender. It’s so much easier to make pureed soups and sauces. I give instructions for both an immersion blender and a regular blender/food processor.
- Use the basis of this recipe to create many different kinds of pureed vegetable soups.
Chilled Asparagus Soup
Makes about 2 quarts of soup
2 T vegan butter
1 T neutral oil such as grapeseed or mild olive oil
2 medium large leeks
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 bunches asparagus (about 2 1/2 pounds)
1 cup peeled and diced russet potato (about half of a potato)
5 cups vegetable stock/broth
Salt and pepper to taste
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup vegan sour cream at room temperature
Snipped chives for topping
You will only be using the white and light green part of the leeks. To prep the leeks cut off the green bottom until it is very light green. Compost the dark green part or use in a vegetable stock. Cut the hairy top off of the leek and discard. Remove the outer layer of the leeks if they seem very fibrous. Make a slit down the middle of the remaining leeks and rinse out the under cold running water. Dry well. Chop up the leeks. You should have about a cup and a half.
To prep the asparagus, rinse in cold water and dry. Cut off the woody ends. Cut the asparagus into one inch pieces. I got 8+ cups from these 2 bunches.
Prep your garlic and potato.
Okay onto making the soup.
Melt butter and oil in a large stockpot (I used a 6 qt pot) over medium heat until just shimmering. Lower heat and add the leeks. Sweat the leeks until softened and translucent about 5 minutes, Stirring up occasionally.
Add the minced garlic and sauté 30 more seconds stirring up, making sure not to the brown the garlic.
Add the asparagus and potato and stir up, coating all of the vegetables with the leek mixture.
Add the veggie stock and thyme springs and bring to a boil, then immediately turn down the heat to a gentle rolling simmer. Make sure to stir up the soup. Cover with a lid leaving a bit of a vent and gently simmer for 15-20 minutes until the veggies are soft. Stir up occasionally.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Let cool about 10-15 minutes. Remove the thyme sprigs before blending.
If using an immersion blender, puree until almost smooth, in the pot. Add the lemon and sour cream and puree until velvety smooth or to your liking. Taste again for seasoning.
If using a food processor or blender, transfer all of the soup to another container and then puree in batches, adding lemon and sour cream to one of the batches. Return all of the soup to the pot to stir up and incorporate the sour cream/lemon juice batch into the entire soup.
Taste for seasoning.
If serving hot, gently reheat and serve immediately in bowls with the snipped chives or toppings of choice.
If serving chilled, let the soup cool completely in the pot before transferring to a lidded container. Refrigerate at least an hour for chilled soup. Serve in bowls topped with the snipped chives or toppings of choice.
Enjoy!
Refrigerate leftovers.
