A lovely and delicate creamy asparagus soup. Perfect for Easter, a shower or any Spring gathering. The star ingredient is the fresh asparagus. Dollop with sour cream or crème fraîche and garnish with asparagus tips. Your guests will rave about this soup.
Trim the asparagus and discard the woodsy bottom, reserve the tip and roughly dice the rest into 1-inch pieces. Dice a small-medium size onion and a clove of garlic. Add to a stock pot and cover with chicken stock, about half of the container, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook for 12-15 minutes or until fork tender.
Working in small batches, transfer the vegetables to a food processor and purée.
NOTE: BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN BLITZING HOT LIQUID AS THEY TEND TO EXPLODE AND CAN EASILY BURN YOU. You can also wait until vegetables are cool and purée then.
In a small pan, cook the asparagus tips in a little water until tender. Submerge them in ice water to stop the cooking process and set the bright color. Transfer to a paper towel to dry and set aside. You'll use the tips to garnish the soup at the end.
Make a roux by melting 3 Tablespoons of butter in a stock pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add 3 Tablespoons of flour, stir to combine and cook the flour for a few minutes. Add the remaining chicken stock, kosher salt and black pepper and whisk to blend and smooth out any lumps.
Add a cup of sour cream to a small bowl and slowly add a ladle of soup or two at a time while whisking until smooth. Add this mixture back into the soup along with a few dashes of nutmeg and the juice of half a lemon. Whisk to combine.
Cover and cook over low-medium heat for about 20 minutes.
Serve hot and garnish with sour cream or crème fraîche and asparagus tips.
This soup can be made a few days ahead and warmed through before serving.
To freeze, allow the soup to cool at room temperature before transferring to a freezer safe container up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before warming up.