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Creamy Asparagus Soup

From

April​/May 2010

Creamy Asparagus Soup

For our Creamy Asparagus Soup recipe, we found that cooking asparagus on medium-low heat slowly coaxed out its flavor. But there was a fine line between perfect and overcooked; for its fresh flavor to translate to the soup, the asparagus needed to be just tender enough to puree, but no more. For the soup’s base, we quickly discovered that water was bland (no surprise). A homemade asparagus stock wasn’t worth the extra effort, and additions of wine or vermouth turned a delicate soup grassy and acidic. Ultimately, our tasters liked store-bought chicken broth the best. We tested a number of “cream" components, from yogurt to sour cream, crème fraîche, and rice milk, and they were all too heavy, too tangy, or just too weird. In the end, a pour of heavy cream tasted just right. To give the soup a silky quality we switched from a base of onions to leeks. When pureed they made the soup creamier and added heft.

Serves 6

Peel the spears with a vegetable peeler if they are thicker than 1/2 inch.

Ingredients

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