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Thursday, September 24, 2009

Back in the kitchen: Grilled asparagus soup

After a relaxing vacation, I was happy to settle back into my kitchen. As temperatures get cooler, I thought soup would make a great first course on Saturday night. Weber Grilling has a recipe for Grilled Asparagus Soup. It's been an off year for asparagus, but my local store had it on sale last week so I decided to try it out. Before I even started, I'd made the decision to change the recipe quite a bit. It calls for a hefty amount of tarragon and we just aren't big on tarragon so I added a bit of thyme, some Parmigiano-Reggiano, among other things... My version follows. Give it a shot, and leave a comment with your favorite soup ideas. I'll definitely be looking for some new ones this fall!


Grilled Asparagus Soup
adapted from Weber Grilling
  • 1 pound asparagus
  • 4 scallions
  • 2 Tbsp. Olive oil
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 1 cup packed spinach leaves
  • leaves from 2 sprigs fresh thyme
  • pinch of smoked sea salt (use regular sea salt if you can't find smoked)
  • pepper, to taste
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • 2 slices Prosciutto (optional)

Rub the olive oil on the asparagus and scallions. Grill both 4-6 minutes - you want grill marks, but you want the veggies to still be firm. Remove to a plate and allow to cool to room temperature.

While it cools, place prosciutto slices on a wire rack on a baking sheet and bake at 400F for a couple minutes until it starts to turn darker pink. Remove from oven. It will crisp as it cools (I did this in my toaster oven to avoid ehating the whole oven.) Set aside.

Cut asparagus into 2 inch pieces. Reserve 4 asparagus tips. In a saucepan, combine the asparagus, scallions, spinach leaves and stock and bring to a boil. Add the sea salt and pepper to taste. Boil for about 4 minutes or until the spinach has wilted. Puree in a blender or with a stick blender.

Return the soup to the stove and stir in the heavy cream and cheese.

Serve warm. Crumble one slice crisped prosciutto over each and garnish with reserved asparagus tips. Sprinkle with additional cheese if desired.

Makes 2 servings and can easily be multiplied.

7 comments:

Simply Life said...

Oh i've never had this kind of soup before - looks great! Thanks!

Table Talk said...

Grilling the asparagus adds so much warmth to the soup--and the prosciutto sounds delicious!

Divina Pe said...

Beautiful soup. The grilling adds more flavor and I'll do that next time. thank you.

Jessie said...

I love that you grilled the asparagus, it gives the soup a nice smoky unqiue flavor.

Nicole said...

I never thought about grilling the veges before I put them into a soup. Great idea!

Bonnie M. said...

Looks good. I picked up some asparagus this morning to give it a try, but will have to make some major adaptations due to seafood and milk allergies in the family.

I made curried pumpkin soup last week, which is always a favourite here. I make it sporadically throughout the year using canned pumpkin, but I've also made it successfully by roasting a pumpkin when they're in season. Hmm... come to think of it, grilling the pumpkin might add a little something, too.

wasabi prime said...

Brilliant and lovely color! And the sprinkle of proscuitto over the top is a delicious finish!

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