by: Kate McMillan
Cook Time
25 minutes
Prep Time
10 minutes
Yield
4 servings
Total Time
25 minutes
Prep Time
10 minutes
Yield
4 servings
summary
Cooking with the seasons is truly the best way to impart the most flavor into your dishes. This lovely creamy leek and asparagus soup recipe makes a wonderful first or main course for spring. Just make sure you don’t cook the asparagus for too long to ensure you have a gorgeous bright green soup.
ingredients
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 leeks, halved and sliced
- 1 shallot, chopped
- ½ pound Yukon Gold potatoes, diced small
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3–4 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
- 1 pound asparagus, woodsy ends discarded and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 radishes, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup fresh herbs such as tarragon, dill or parsley
directions
- Heat the butter and olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium–high heat. Add the leeks and shallot. Saute, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are very soft, about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, season generously with salt and pepper and, stirring occasionally, saute for 4 more minutes.
- Add the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the potatoes are fork-tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the asparagus pieces and cook until they are just barely fork-tender, about 3 to 5 minutes, depending on how thick they are. Turn off the heat and let the soup cool for 10 minutes.
- Working in batches, transfer the soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Return the soup to the pot on the stove and rewarm over medium heat. Adjust with salt and pepper, as needed. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with radish slices, sour cream and fresh herbs. Serve at once.
notes
Asparagus ranges in thickness quite a bit. Just cook the pieces until they are barely fork tender. If you overcook them your soup will turn brown.
When buying asparagus, look for the following: Tips should be super compact, stalks should be bright green and free of brown spots, and the ends should not be dried out.
You can make this creamy leek and asparagus soup recipe a few days in advance; it also freezes very well.
The best way to clean leeks is to slice them and then put them in a bowl of cold water. All the dirt will fall to the bottom of the bowl.
