A three ingredient surprise…

I have never had an asparagus, leek and peas soup. So I had no idea how this was going to turn out. And the reason I came up with it was because I bought leeks the other day and wanted to use it in a soup but then landed up using up the other ingredients which were to be part of the soup for other dishes… So now I was left with the leeks and no soup. I decided to make roast some asparagus for lunch and had the ends (the thick not roastable parts) on my cutting board. This time I decided not to throw it out, instead decided look up recipes which would actually allow me to use the ends as well. That’s how I landed up at one of my favorite blogs: What’s for lunch honey. And Meeta had a wonderful looking soup she had there with asparagus ends. I modified the recipe (http://www.whatsforlunchhoney.net/2006/05/creamed-asparagus-and-leek-soup.html) to create one of my own. And this soup is creamy, surprisingly so! It takes hardly any active time of yours. I just steamed the asparagus ends in a rice cooker with the steamer. And then once it was all softened, i just tossed the ends along with the peas into the same water and let it boil for sometime and I did not have to keep an eye on it. So here’s the recipe and it serves about 2-3 persons.

Ingredients:

1. 1 bunch asparagus ends
2. 1 cup chopped leeks (the light green and white parts only)
3. 1 cup frozen peas (or fresh)
4. 1/2 tsp butter
5. 1-2 tsp olive oil
6. 1/2 tsp red chili powder
7. salt and pepper to taste
8. 1 tsp yogurt per bowl of soup

Directions:

• Steam the asparagus ends using about 3 cups of water for about 15-20 mins.
• Next toss the ends and the peas into the same water and let it simmer for another 15 mins.
• In the meanwhile heat the olive oil and butter in a saucepan and add the leeks to it. Saute the leeks till it is browned slightly. This took about 15 mins.
• Now transfer the asparagus, peas and water to the saucepan and let the ingredients simmer for 5 mins.
• Now transfer this to a blender and blend it.
• Next use a strainer to strain out the soup and place the soup back on the stovetop.
• Now add the red chili powder, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
• Transfer the soup to serving bowls and top with yogurt.
• Serve hot with some croutons (I did not use the croutons).

I loved the soup. It was delicious and amazingly so given the fact that I had put just salt and pepper to it and no other added ingredients. You could add some vegetable stock to this to enhance the taste even further. But I loved it just the way it is. This is going to be a permanent feature on my menu at home now, as both Amit and I love asparagus and now we can use the ends too. Thanks for stopping by at my blog and hope you enjoy this soup as much as I did.

Shilpa