Asparagus Ends and Garlic Soup Recipe, with olive oil and basil, makes for a delicious soup, helping not to waste the woody ends of fresh asparagus.
Who Knew An Asparagus Soup Recipe Made From Asparagus Trash Could Be So Delicious!
Finally, after a long winter, early spring asparagus season is upon us, and while asparagus take their good ole time to feel at home in their new garden, it is worth planting them so they return each year!
This delicious, very spring-like, light meal was created, the week of prepping for the up-and-coming main dish of the Easter dinner.
There I was, with one large heap of beautiful reserved tips of the asparagus I would serve with the meal, and a huge heap of tough ends of the asparagus, I almost threw them in the trash.Â
Garlic Has Many Flavors
Who knew that you could take the strong, sometimes hot flavor of garlic and give it a gentle nutty flavor! Roasting garlic, with herbs and a little olive oil, give garlic a gentle yet rich flavor.
However you like your garlic, know that it brings a deeper flavor to any light vegetable based soup, not to mention its rich natural oil enhancing to yet a deeper flavor.
Tasty and Healthy Garlic Soup
While garlic soup is a traditional recipe found in many cuisines, it is most known for its medicinal properties to ward off sickness.
However, in this asparagus ends soup, it is the rich deep flavor of garlic that gives balance and a lingering taste to this soup, not simply a light hearted vegetable soup.
Depth of flavor, from the garlic, can be obtained in one of two ways;
- Roasting the garlic first for a slightly sweet nutty flavor before adding it to the simmering asparagus ends.
- Rough chopping the raw garlic, before adding to the asparagus as it simmers, for an added heat to the final flavor.
A Food Waste Resolution
Some of my most favorite things I have created in my kitchen have come from scraps, bones and things I probably threw away when I was a young cook, and knew no better.
The best way to create a vegetable soup is to start the cooking process with scraps, and just boil the heck out of them until their flavors remain in the pot and not the trash or compost pile.
That was how this scrumptious, nutritious asparagus stock became the base for a light evening meal, served simply with crusty bread.
Seeing how I was making bread for appetizers and the Easter meal anyway, I simply made extra for this special meal.
Anyone Can Make A Creamy Asparagus Soup
Oh sure, as a young cook, learning lots of fancy recipes, I certainly have made my share of cream of asparagus soup.
Who wouldn’t find the tender reserved asparagus tips easily pureed into a creamy soup.
However, every good cook seeks to challenge themselves to becoming a great cook, by taking the ordinary and making it into something exceptional.
Often that means stepping away from all the tried-and-true recipes, and start creating new ones from ingredients we may have once overlooked.
Where Have All The Good Soups Gone?
When it comes to the ‘soup course’ of any great menu, it seems that course has often been removed from the menu.
It used to be that soup recipes were carefully planned as the first course to a meal, giving special attention to ‘in season’ items, or special products of a given area; such as Oysters in the winter and Crabs in the summer are to my area along the Chesapeake Bay.
Classic Soup Recipes Worth Saving
If a really good clear broth, or consume was desired, you wanted to know that it was long simmered from seafood bones or shell, beef, chicken or lamb bones for a great bone broth based consume.
But, life seems changed, in a hurry, and a great soup requires time to simmer and develop flavors.
I think it’s time we bring this aspect of great dining back to the table.
- Cold Greek Cucumber Soup – a refreshing cold soup for hot weather with all the flavors of a Tzatziki with cooling and nutritious cucumbers, mint or dill and yogurt.
- Black or White Bean Soups – with or without meat, makes for a complete meal, high in protein and rich in flavor.
- Ginger Carrot Red Lentil Soup – loaded with nutrients and perfect for meatless meals, with the spice of ginger, carrots, red lentils and lots of spices to make you forget there is no meat.
Soups Recipes Are A Mark Of A Great Chef
Any chef can rub down a great cut of meat, toss it on a hot pan, throw together some sides and charge a high price for a meal.
But not every chef knows the art of creating layers of flavors from a huge pot of boiling water.
In fact, my professional chef son Omar Daumit once said, if he were ever to open his own restaurant, it would be Simply Soups, because a great soup is the mark of a great chef.
“Soups are not simple and often mark the abilities of a great chef to be able to impart layers of flavor into a bowl of hot water,” he said!
Easy Snap And Gathering Of Asparagus Ends
Sure, it would be easy to chop off the ends of many stalks of asparagus, but are we really sure where the woody end stops and the tender top begins?
Nature makes it easy for us to know, with a little wiggle of the asparagus spear near the bottom, it easily snaps at the perfect spot we are looking for.
In this way, we waste none of the tender parts for other recipes, and make great use of the woody ends we might otherwise toss in the trash.
How To Make Asparagus Ends Soup With Lots Of Garlic
While I can promise you that this soup is just as easy to make as it is delicious to eat, there is one aspect that might test your patience.
Placing all the ingredients into a large saucepan or soup pot to boil away without any effort on your part, is easy.
Extracting the essence, will require a moment of your patience because the woody ends of an asparagus, are just that; woody, though loaded with flavor and nutrients.
From a huge heap of asparagus ends and a handful of garlic boiled for about 30-minutes, comes the delicate asparagus and garlic essence of both plants.
Pressing all of these flavors through a strainer or Chinois sieve is the only real effort in this soup, but every last delicate flavor will be what remains in your pot.Â
How To Express The Asparagus Essence
However, we must press that essence out from the plant, making sure to extract as much as possible of its flavor and nutritional properties.
While I have used a fine sieve strainer and the back of a spoon, I find owning a Chinois Set, a hard stainless steel sieve with small holes and a wooden pestle, makes the job easier.
Once the essence is extracted from the asparagus and garlic, placed back into the broth, it can be served right away or stored in an airtight container in the freezer, for future servings.
If using heavy cream, coconut cream or a dollop of mascarpone or sour cream, this is added just before serving.
Dirt To Table
Such a refined soup, you will wonder why you ever threw the end pieces away. It’s beautiful garden grown veggies, like these asparagus, that inspired my book Dirt to Dish.
Once I learned how easy it is to grow everyday vegetables in pots on my deck or a designated section of my garden, I became hooked on growing whatever I could to cook with.
Remember one thing; the stalk of the asparagus, the hard woody end we throw away, is what grows in the dirt and is often where the most nutrients come from, not the delicate tips!
Equipment Needed
- Medium large soup pot with a lid
- Chinois set or fine sieve strainer with a wooden spoon, either will work however a chinois is a wonderful tool in the kitchen as it crushes all the bits against the holes, forcing every bit of liquid out for use.
- Food processor, blender or immersion blender to liquify all the chunks, making it easier to press through a strainer.
- Measuring cup and measuring spoons which you probably already have.
Ingredients Needed
- Asparagus ends – you know, those woody ends you usually cut off and toss away, simply peel and use those in this luscious soup.
- Garlic – either fresh raw garlic, with its hint of heat, or roasted garlic with its slightly nutty flavor.
- Broth or hot liquid – a vegetable broth or other favored stock is used however the flavors in this soup stand on their own, so perhaps just hot water is enough for you.
- Olive oil or unsalted butter – olive oil in keeping with a plant based oil or butter for a cream based fat.
- Fresh herbs, basil is perfect for the flavors in this soup, though fresh marjoram adds a little more intensity to the flavor.
- Salt – to your taste, either a kosher coarse salt or a slightly smoky salt for another layer of flavor.
- White wine (optional) – brings the acidity to the broth, though a squeeze of lime juice can be used instead.
- Mascarpone or sour cream (optional) – just a dollop on top the soup when served is you like, or even a delicious dollop of Almond cheese, in keeping with a completely plant based and very healthy soup.
Asparagus Ends and Garlic Soup
Equipment
- Food processor Blender or immersion blender will work too
- Chinois set or fine sieve strainer
- Medium large soup pot with lid
Ingredients
- 1 lb Asparagus stalks
- 4 Garlic cloves
- 1 quart Hot liquids or Chicken broth
- 2 tbsp Olive oil or unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup White wine (optional)
- 2 tbsp Mascarpone or heavy cream (optional)
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium heat bring the vegetable stock, or liquid of choice to a low boil. Drop in the asparagus trimmings, herbs, wine if using, garlic, olive oil or butter and one teaspoon salt at a time and taste before adding more. Put a lid on, turn down to low and simmer for 30-minutes. Cool.
- Transfer the solid pieces of the mixture to a food processor or regular blender and puree until the mixture is as creamy as possible.Â
- With a fine mesh strainer over the heavy soup pot of liquid, strain the asparagus pulp, pressing with the back of a spoon to release all of the asparagus flavor and creamy substance that has cooked down from the woody asparagus.Â
- Reheat when ready to serve and add a small dollop of mascarpone or drizzle of cream to each bowl when serving.Â
- The same cooking method as above can be done in a pressure cooker or instant pot.Â
- An immersion blender can be used while the asparagus ends are in the soup pot, but needs to be strained once pureed.Â
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I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.