Delicious Spring soup with asparagus and a dill oil drizzle
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time25 minutesmins
Total Time40 minutesmins
Course: Soup
Servings: 6
Calories: 137kcal
Author: Bernadette
Ingredients
For the soup:
2poundsasparagus
1stick unsalted butter
1yellow onionfinely chopped
2tablespoonsall-purpose flour
4cupschicken broth
salt and freshly ground pepper
For the Dill Oil:
½cupschopped fresh dill
¼cupolive oil
1teaspoonlemon juice
salt and pepper
Instructions
Cut the flowered tops off of the asparagus, about an inch long and set aside. Chop the remaining asparagus into ½-to 1 inch pieces, discarding the bottom two inches.
Melt the butter over medium heat in a 4 quart pot. Add the onions and asparagus and saute until the onion is translucent and the asparagus begins to soften. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Pour in the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the asparagus is soft.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Blanch the asparagus tips for 1 minute, drain and run under cold water. The tips will be bright green and still crunchy, giving a great texture to the finished soup.
Once the asparagus is fully cooked, puree the soup well using a hand blender or traditional blender. Pass the soup through a mesh strainer into a clean saucepan, pressing down with a large spoon to achieve a perfectly smooth texture. At this point you can refrigerate the soup until the next day or continue.
For the dill oil, put the dill, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a blender and blend until smooth and bright green in color. Taste and adjust the seasonings if the flavor is too bland.
Reheat the soup over low heat, don’t allow it to come to a boil. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with the asparagus tips, drizzling the dill oil over the top. Enjoy while pretending you are royalty!