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. Sauté 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 – the 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.

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