Nothing says love like Asparagus Soup

I've never ever made anything with asparagus and I think I've only eaten it a handful of times, but it was on sale this week and I was pretty sure I liked it so I decided to try to make Cream of Asparagus Soup. It was part of our little Valentine's Day dinner, nothing fancy, just the 4 of us at home. I found the recipe on allrecipes.com and here it is-

Cream of Fresh Asparagus Soup

1 lb fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 c chopped onion
1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
2 T butter
2 T flour
1 t salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 c milk
1/2 c sour cream
1 t fresh lemon juice

In a large saucepan, combine asparagus, chopped onion, and 1/2 cup chicken broth. Cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat, and simmer uncovered until asparagus is tender, about 12 minutes. Process the mixture in a blender to puree the vegetables. Set aside.

In the same saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Stir in the flour, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Whisk in the remaining chicken broth, and increase the heat to medium. Cook, stirring constantly until the mixture boils. Stir in the asparagus puree and the milk.

Put the sour cream in a small bowl, and stir in a ladleful of the hot soup. Add the sour cream mixture and the lemon juice to the soup. Stir while heating the soup to serving temperature, but don't allow it to boil. Serve immediately.

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It really turned out wonderful! That's my opinion anyway. My son tolerated it and hubby said it tasted like peas, which for him is not a good thing. And, I have to say that it was a lot of steps to make, more than I'm used to and not easy with a 2-year-old underfoot! Not sure if I'll make it again anytime soon but it was really fun to try something new. I also made some stromboli to go with it, which basically was a pizza all rolled up and baked. And that, of course, was a hit with everyone.




I'm still deciding on my next soup, so check back in a couple days :)