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 Hosted By
Ellice & Monty |
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Asparagus Soup with Meyer Lemon Creme
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Serving Size -
6
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Prepared By -
Frederic
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Recipe Rating
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Printer Friendly Recipe
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4 tablespoons unsalted butter |
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1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves |
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1/2 teaspoon minced garlic |
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Juice of 1/2 Meyer lemon or large regular lemon |
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Sea salt and freshly ground white pepper |
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Juice of 1/2 Meyer lemon or large regular lemon |
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Sea salt and freshly ground white pepper |
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Coarsely chopped toasted hazelnuts |
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Remove the tough ends of the asparagus spears by bending each
spear near its base until the end snaps off naturally. Cut off about
3 inches from the tips of 12 stalks to use for garnish. Bring a large pot
of salted water to a boil and prepare a large bowl of ice water. Add
the asparagus spears to the boiling water and cook until bright green
and nearly tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Scoop out the spears with a slotted
spoon and plunge into the ice water to cool quickly. Return the water
to a boil, add the reserved asparagus tips and cook until bright green
and nearly tender, about 1 minute. Scoop the tips out with a slotted
spoon and cool in the ice water as well. When the asparagus is cold,
drain well and place in a single layer on paper towels to dry. Set aside the asparagus tips and cut the spears into l-inch pieces. Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium heat until melted and
foamy white. Add the onion, thyme, and garlic and cook, stirring
occasionally, until the onion begins to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in
the asparagus pieces, then add the vegetable stock and lemon juice.
Bring the stock just to a boil over high heat, then decrease the heat
to medium-low, stir in the creme fraiche, and simmer until the
asparagus is very tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Strain the asparagus mixture through a sieve into a bowl, returning
the liquid to the saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and
boil to reduce by one-third. Meanwhile, puree the asparagus mixture
in a blender or food processor until very smooth. If the puree is quite
thick, add a couple tablespoons of water to lighten it. Pass the puree
through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing on the solids with the
back of a rubber spatula to extract as much puree from the fibrous
bits as you can. Stir the asparagus puree into the reduced stock mixture.
Taste the soup for seasoning, adding salt and pepper if necessary;
keep warm over low heat. Cut the reserved asparagus tips lengthwise
in half (unless the tips are already quite thin). For the lemon cream, whip the creme fraiche with the lemon juice
in a bowl until medium peaks form. Season to taste with salt and
pepper, whisking to blend fully.
To serve, ladle the asparagus soup into warm shallow soup bowls.
Form the lemon cream into 4 large quenelles and set
them in the center of the soup. Lean the reserved asparagus tips up
against the lemon cream and scatter the hazelnuts over the cream.
Drizzle the top of each soup with hazelnut oil. |
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