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Creamed asparagus soup

Spargelcremesuppe

Asparagus – the true harbinger of summer

4 servings

500 g/18 oz white asparagus

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

60 g/2 oz (4 tbsp) butter

1 litre/1 ¾ pints (4 cups) water

about 300 ml/10 fl oz (1 ¼ cups) milk

30 g/1 oz (¼ cup) plain (all purpose) flour

½ bunch parsley

ground white pepper

grated nutmeg

2 egg yolks (medium)

3 tbsp whipping cream

Preparation time: 45 minutes

Cooking time: about 35–37 minutes

The asparagus harvest is carried out by hand. Each spear is picked separately.

1 Peel the asparagus from top to bottom. Make sure that all the stringy outside is removed while being very careful not to damage the heads. Cut off the ends (the woody parts should be completely removed). Put the peelings and ends to one side. Cut the asparagus into pieces 3 cm/1 ¼ in long.

2 Put the asparagus ends and peelings in a pan. Add salt, sugar and 20 g/¾ oz (1 ½ tbsp) butter, pour in the water, bring to the boil, cover and cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes.

3 Pour the asparagus ends and peelings through a colander, collecting the cooking liquid and bring it to the boil again. Add the pieces of asparagus, bring to the boil, cover and cook for 10-12 minutes until al dente.

4 Put the pieces of asparagus in a colander to drain and again keep the cooking liquid. Top up with milk to make 1 litre/1 ¾ pints (4 cups).

5 Melt the rest of the butter in a pan. Add the flour and stir until the mixture is pale yellow. Pour in the asparagus-milk liquid little by little, stirring vigorously with a whisk, making sure there are no lumps.

6 Bring the soup to the boil and simmer without a lid for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

7 Rinse the parsley, pat dry and pull the leaves off the stems. Chop up two-thirds of the parsley.

8 Season the soup with salt, sugar, pepper and nutmeg. Mix together the cream and egg yolks and stir 4 tbsp of the soup into the cream-egg yolk mixture.

9 Now add the resulting mixture back to the soup, but do not let the soup boil again. Add the drained pieces of asparagus and warm up briefly. Garnish the soup with parsley before serving.

Tips: If you like, cut up 50 g/2 oz cooked ham into thin strips and warm up in the soup with the pieces of asparagus. You can also make the soup with green asparagus. In this case only peel the bottom third of the stem. Cook the green asparagus pieces for about 8 minutes.