For an ultrasmooth soup, strain it through a chinois, a conical strainer that is a favorite in restaurant kitchens. A pestle is used to push the food through the fine-mesh perforations of the chinois.
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Servings
4
Ingredients
1 1/2 lb. asparagus
4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) plus 2 tsp. unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup dry vermouth
3 cups chicken stock, plus more as needed
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
3/4 cup heavy cream
Directions
Snap off the tough stem ends from the asparagus spears. Cut the tips off 8 of the spears into 2-inch lengths. Set the tips aside. Chop the remaining asparagus into 1-inch pieces.
In a heavy soup pot over medium heat, melt the 4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) butter. Add the onion and garlic and sauté, stirring occasionally, until tender and translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the vermouth and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the chopped asparagus and the 3 cups stock. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and cook until the asparagus is tender, about 20 minutes.
Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth, about 2 minutes. Pass the soup through a chinois into a clean saucepan. Stir in the cream plus more stock if needed to reach the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper. Set the pan over low heat and reheat the soup to serving temperature.
In a small sauté pan over medium heat, melt the 2 tsp. butter. Add the reserved asparagus tips and cook until just tender, about 2 minutes. Ladle the soup into warmed bowls, garnish with the asparagus tips and serve immediately. Serves 4.
Williams-Sonoma Kitchen.
Rated 4 out of
5 by
csinclair916 from
Delicious!I paired the Asparagus Soup with the Williams-Sonoma's Crab Crostini. The meal was delicious.
Both recipes were easy to make and turned out very flavorful. I used freshly made chicken broth and instead of the immersion hand blender I pureed the soup, in batches, in my Cuisinart; and did not strain. Both my guest and I enjoyed the consistency and texture of the soup. I added a small amount of fresh dill to both the soup (in the onion, garlic and butter stage of prep) and the crab crostini.
For the Crab Crostini I used fresh crab and flavored the water base with lemon, crab boil mix and salt...lovely, fresh and filling. Thank you Williams-Sonoma for all the great recipes.
Date published: 2014-01-22
Rated 5 out of
5 by
MaxineCooksForJustin from
My Husband & I Loved This - So delicious and easy!I made this to serve with our Christmas Eve dinner and it turned out incredibly well. We loved it! I did make a couple adjustments to the recipe, rather than heavy cream I used half-and-half, instead of dry Vermouth I used a brut Cava, I used just under two pounds of asparagus, and instead of an asparagus garnish, I toasted French baguette slices in the oven topped with Parmesan/Asiago cheese and placed that in the bowl onto the soup for the garnish and added flavor/texture. The mix of the cheese with creamy soup was a wonderful combination and the crispy bread that became slightly soft from the soup was a nice addition to the texture and flavor. I also loved that I could actually taste the Cava in the soup.
The only tool I used was my immersion blender, I prefer this kind of soup a little thicker, but I did need to add a little more chicken stock in the end, which was fine.
If you make this surprisingly easy, yet impressive soup you will not regret it!
Date published: 2013-12-29
Rated 5 out of
5 by
photogcook from
Excellent SoupI did not strain the soup as the recipe stated and also I used 1/2 and 1/2 instead of cream. It came out simply delicious! Will be making this again, will be impressive for company too.
Date published: 2013-06-21
Rated 5 out of
5 by
sfmarco from
Quick Spring Crowd PleaserSoup is fantastic and the Vermouth reduction with the onion and garlic is what makes this pop.
Date published: 2013-04-22
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Patria from
Wonderful SoupSuper easy soup to make. I substituted the whipping cream for greek yougart and it was yummy. Paired with a grilled flank steak on baguette and I was in food heaven.
Date published: 2013-04-16
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Anonymous from
Delicious and SimpleI made this soup for dinner one night and it was excellent and sooo easy. I had a lot of Asparagus Soups in Germany and I loved that their soups were not the thick calorie laden soups we seem to have here. So, in order to try and recreate that, I used 2% milk instead of cream and the consistency turned out great. I will definitely be making this soup again.
