Thursday, May 19, 2011

Asparagus Soup with Parmesan & Black Pepper Crisps



This soup is absolutely perfect for continuing to make the most of beautiful seasonal asparagus. It is perfect on it's own but for an extra special treat serve it with the Parmesan and Black Pepper Crisps.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 leek, cleaned & roughly chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
500g Asparagus, with the tough roots trimmed off
1000ml/ 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
Salt & pepper
Squeeze of lemon juice
100ml cream (optional)

In a large pan melt the butter with the oil. Saut̩ the onion and leek for 5 minutes then add the garlic and asparagus. Cover and gently sweat for 5 minutes then add the stock and seasoning. Simmer for roughly 10 minutes until the asparagus is tender. Leave to cool and then blend until smooth. When ready to serve gently reheat the soup until hot then add the cream if using. Check the seasoning before serving and adjust if necessary then serve with a little extra garnish of cream and the Parmesan and Black Pepper Crisps on the side. Elegant and delicious Рthe perfect Spring soup!


Parmesan & Black Pepper Crisps

85g/ 3oz Parmesan cheese
¼ - ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper {fairly coarsely ground}

Preheat the oven to 400F/ 200C. Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper and set aside. Grate the cheese into a medium sized bowl then stir through the pepper. Put heaping tablespoons of the cheese & pepper mixture onto the baking tray and spread out until you have even circles roughly 2 ½ inches in diameter. Bake in the oven for 4-5 minutes until golden then remove and allow to cool.

*If you prefer you can miss out the black pepper and keep these crisps as pure Parmesan crisps.

Giveaway!

Just a quick reminder to all of you that you can follow Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops on Facebook. As soon as I reach 200 followers {or 'likes'}, as a thank you I'll be giving away a beautiful, seasonal cookbook. In addition, if you would like to enter more than once simply become a follower on the blog then send me a little message to say you have done so. Lets get up to 200 people!

To all of you that are already followers you are already entered into the competition but please feel free to mention it to any family and friends that you think would enjoy reading Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops and fancy a new cookbook!

10 comments:

  1. I love asparagus season! It means summer is right around the corner! Fabulous looking soup, I want it for lunch!

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  2. delicious addition of leaks favourite type of soup
    looks wonderful

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  3. I'm loving that little crisp...such a nice touch to a delicious soup.

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  4. Lovely soup...and the Parmesan crisps are the perfect accompaniment :) I am now following you on facebook~

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  5. I was just thinking of asparagus soup earlier today! Looks delicious! Can't wait to try your recipe, thanks so much for sharing! =]

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  6. Gorgeous and perfect for spring!

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  7. Thanks everyone for all of your lovely comments! Spring has definitely sprung when you make this soup - I really love it so I hope you all enjoy it as well!

    Lizzy - that's great, thanks! Good luck with the giveaway - I'll post more information on it closer to reaching the target!

    Have a great weekend everyone : )

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  8. Dear Lyndsey
    I want to give you a prize. Look to me.
    http://usubufood.blogspot.com/2011/05/szezamos-bundaban-sult-sparga-remoulade.html

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  9. Thank you so much Foodafok for the wonderful award - i am so honoured! I really appreciate everyone's comments and the time you all take to read my blog and post them, and now especially for wonderful awards! Thank you all x

    ReplyDelete

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