Last week we were hankering for this taste of spring and compared a few recipes. As we used our experience to sift through the approaches (don’t cook too long or the taste and color will be off; don’t use chicken broth or it will overpower the asparagus’s delicate flavor), and tailored the recipe to meet Away Cafe standards (yellow onion instead of shallots, when possible) we ended up with a soup that delivered a beautiful and satisfying experience of spring.
We had big plans for what to post this week, but cancelled them in favor of this new favorite. Green, fresh, and just sophisticated enough to put a bounce in your step, this soup is our new rite of spring. And you can make it quickly—only a few ingredients, and only a few things to do with them. Happy Spring!
Spring Asparagus Soup
3 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 to 4 sprigs fresh thyme, washed and removed from sprigs
2 pounds asparagus, bottom sections removed and remainder cut into pieces*
6 cups water
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
heavy cream or crème fresh (for serving)
juice from 1/2 lemon, optional
Melt the butter in a large (4-quart) saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until the onions are translucent and soft, about 5 minutes. Add the flour and cook for a couple of minutes until the mixture looks golden and smells cooked and inviting rather than raw. Add the thyme and cook for another 30 seconds.
Add the asparagus, 6 cups water, and 2 1/2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook for about 4 minutes (maybe a minute or two longer if the spears are fat, but no longer than that or the soup will taste bitter and acquire a dull green color).
Use an immersion blender to thoroughly blend all of the soup—this takes us a little longer for this recipe than for other soups. You could also blend the soup in a blender, in which case you should only fill half of the blender and leave off the cap from the middle of the lid, but cover the hole with a clean dish cloth or paper towels. There will still be some texture to the soup, which we like. If you want it silky smooth, pour it through a chinois or fine strainer before serving.
Add optional lemon juice to the pot when ready to serve, and a dollop of cream or crème fresh to each bowl.
*With two hands, hold each washed asparagus spear 1/4 or 1/3 of the way up the spear from the bottom and snap it wherever it wants to snap. Then cut the remainder of the spear into three or four pieces.
