Spargelsuppe Recipe

Spargelsuppe is a German white asparagus soup. I first encountered this on our honeymoon 2 years ago in Munich. Strolling through the Marienplatz we saw stands of white spears labeled, spargel. It was my first time ever seeing “white” asparagus. I thought is was odd and intriguing at the same time. Later that night, Mark and I went to dinner where on the menu they were serving spargelsuppe. I got it. I loved it. And ever since I’ve been dreaming of the perfect time to concoct my own soup at home.

This picture was from our honeymoon trip to Europe in 2008. We were in Munich, Germany where we saw these bizarre spargel stands everywhere.

I’ll have to admit, I’ve bought a couple bundles of white asparagus when it’s been in season throughout the past couple of years, not once touching it because I wanted it specifically for this soup. And since I have never been completely prepared to make this soup, I usually ended up finding my poor white asparagus rotten in the back of my fridge. I even froze a bundle of them in hopes of buying more time to actually figure this soup out. It doesn’t help if I wait so long that it just gets freezer burn. Third time’s a charm in my kitchen, I guess. This time I saw the asparagus at the store, I bought it along with half and half, shallots and chicken broth. I had no excuse to not make it this time.

I’m so glad I finally did. It brings back nostalgic memories. I know you’re thinking, why a hot soup in the summer? But I actually think asparagus soup is a great summer soup, or anytime soup.

Chop asparagus into 1 inch pieces and shallots into quarters. Toss in a large soup pot with a little drizzle of olive oil and sauté until lightly browned.

Then I poured in one cup of chicken broth and 1/3 cup of white wine and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

I then put into the blender until smooth. An immersion blender would have been really handy for this recipe… hint hint, Mark, if you’re reading this – that would be a great Christmas gift, love, your wife.

Back  to the soup. I then poured the pureed soup back into the pot and brought it back to a simmer.

I then took a bundle of green asparagus, cut off only the tips, plus a 1/2 inch more and tossed it into the pot of simmering asparagus soup, adding 4 more cups of chicken broth and a couple of pinches of salt. You can use white asparagus tips, but I wanted to add some color.

After soup had simmered for about 10 more minutes, I added the cream.

Serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan. A dollop of plain yogurt is great, too.

I served this with a dollop of Plain yogurt and a couple of parsley leaves.

Ingredients - if you’re having a difficult time finding white asparagus then green asparagus will work out just as delicious, as well.

*Vegetarian/Vegan version: use vegetable stock in replacement of chicken broth

5 cups of chicken broth

1 cup half and half

1/3 cup white wine

1 pound of white asparagus

green asparagus

3 large shallots

Olive oil

1 teaspoon of sea salt

Parmesan cheese, for topping

Directions

Chop white asparagus into 1 inch pieces and shallots into quarters. Toss in a large soup pot with a little drizzle of olive oil and sauté until lightly browned.

Pour 1 cup of chicken broth and 1/3 cup white wine into the pot and simmer for 20 minutes.

Using an immersion blender, puree cooked shallots and asparagus (or pour into a blender and blend until smooth).

Pour pureed soup back into the pot and bring back to a simmer. Add tips of asparagus (about 1 cups worth) into the pot and stir in one cup of half and half and simmer for another 5 minutes. Serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan.