Another favourite, and surprisingly (for me) Vegetarian-ish soup. Well, if you don’t mind the use of Rennet produced from the stomachs of calves in your cheese recipe. Unlike the squeamish, I have no such reservations. My focus, as always, is on flavour without fuss or the horrendous celebrity chef impersonations.
Ingredients
Around 3lbs (2 Bunches) of fresh Asparagus (Providing it’s being sold off cheap)
Two medium onions
A large teaspoon of bacon grease
Half a teaspoon of dried chili flakes or 2 dried chilis
Half a teaspoon of garlic powder or three cloves of garlic (that’s three segments of a bulb)
A teaspoon of salt
Black pepper to taste
4 ounces salted butter
1 tablespoon cornflour
1 ounce grated Parmesan (Or more)
Half a pint (Quarter litre-ish) of milk
Three litres of water (Maybe more, maybe less)
Equipment
A large pasta pan
A liquidiser or blender
A second large saucepan
A frying pan
Prepare the sweated onion mash as per the Carrot and Coriander recipe. This forms the base of the soup.
Chop the Asparagus into one inch lengths, cutting off the last half inch of the tips. Put these Asparagus tips aside for later. Put the one inch lengths of Asparagus into a pan with half the salt and three litres of water. Bring to boil and simmer for half an hour.
Melt butter and mix in Cornflower, add milk and stir thoroughly until a paste is formed, add milk and Parmesan to create a moderate cheesy sauce.
Blend the onion mash, Asparagus and cooking liquor in batches, decant into second pan until all is thoroughly liquidised. Put pan over heat and when bubbles start to rise, begin adding the Parmesan sauce to the onion and Asparagus mix. Add remaining salt and black pepper to taste. Add tips of Asparagus, simmer for half an hour, stirring occasionally. Enjoy with a crusty bun. Put remainder aside to chill in freezer for future use.
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