gimme some oven

Wow – asparagus seems to be everywhere right now! And since those beautiful, bright green stalks are apparently irresistible to me at the store (especially when they’re on sale!), we’ve been enjoying lots of asparagus lately in my kitchen. Roasted, blanched, in pesto, in gnocchi, you name it…we’ve enjoyed it!

But this week, I revisited a favorite recipe I remember trying last spring — asparagus soup! And once again – it was wonderful!! As a spin on the original recipe from Gourmet, I decided to try roasting all of the veggies (similar to this simple method for this roasted tomato soup). And sure enough – loved how it kicked the flavor up a notch!

So if you’re looking for a fresh and delicious spring soup, would definitely recommend “going green” and giving this one a try!

Creamy Roasted Asparagus Soup
(Adapted from Gourmet)

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs asparagus
• 1 large yellow onion, peeled and halved (with ends cut off)
• 4 cloves garlic, not peeled and left whole
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 cup half and half (or heavy cream)
• 1 Tbsp. dry vermouth (or dry white wine)
• squeeze of fresh lemon juice
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Preheat the oven to 375 F degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil. (Or coat with a good layer of cooking spray.)

Arrange the asparagus, onion halves and garlic cloves on the baking sheet, and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with some salt and pepper, and then bake for about 45 minutes. Turn the onions if they start getting overly dark on the bottom. Check on the garlic as well, once the cloves are golden and oozy inside (probably after about 20 minutes), pull them from the oven.

Peel the garlic, and chop the asparagus into smaller (about 2″) pieces. Reserve some of the asparagus heads for garnish. Then add the asparagus, onions, and garlic into a medium-sized saucepan, and add chicken broth and thyme.

To puree soup, you can either use:

• an immersion blender – Just place it directly in the pot so that it is completely submerged, and then blend the soup until it is smooth.
• a regular blender or food processor – You’ll probably need to do this in batches – just take a few cups and blend until smooth. (Also, be careful not to overfill the blender or food processor!)

Be careful working with warm/hot liquids! Once the soup is pureed, return the saucepan to the stove and bring soup to a boil over medium-high heat. Then lower heat to medium, and stir in half and half (or cream) and vermouth. Season with additional salt and pepper, and a dash of lemon juice if you’d like. Garnish with asparagus heads.

Ali’s Tip:

To make this soup extra hearty, feel free to add in a pound (or half pound) of potatoes to be roasted and then pureed into the soup. You could also add in carrots or celery as well!