Asparagus & Ramp Soup

• 4 Servings

• Total time: 40 min

Adapted from The first mess

Simple and satisfying this asparagus and ramp soup is easy to prepare and just a perfect recipe for Spring!

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 12 ramps/wild leeks, cleaned and chopped (white bulbs and greens divided)

• 1 medium waxy potato, peeled and diced

• 1 lb bunch of asparagus, trimmed and chopped

• ⅛ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, or to taste

• ¼ cup dry white wine

• sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste

• 4-5 cups vegetable stock

• 2 teaspoons lime or lemon juice

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the chopped white ramp bulbs to the pot. Stir them around and cook them until slightly softened, about 2 minutes.

2. Add the diced potato, asparagus and cayenne. Sauté the vegetables for a minute or so. Add the white wine, let the alcohol burn off a bit and stir the vegetables some more. Season everything with salt and pepper. Keep cooking the vegetables until the asparagus is bright, bright green, about 4 minutes.

3. Add the vegetable stock to the pot (enough to cover by an inch or so) and bring the mixture to a boil. Simmer the soup until the potatoes are just tender, about 15 minutes or so.

4. Add the chopped ramp greens and stir. Simmer until the ramp greens are bright and softened, about 2 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat.

5. Carefully blend the soup in batches in your blender to purée or use an emersion blender. Add the blended soup back to the pot. Add the lime juice to the puréed soup and stir to combine. Check the soup for seasoning and adjust if necessary (more salt, lime/lemon etc).

6. To serve, bring the pureed soup to a boil and serve with any garnishes you like.

Notes

• OPTIONAL GARNISHES

  • kale chips (chopped kale tossed in oil, salt + pepper and baked in a single layer at 400°F for about 10 minutes or until crisp)

  • cooked quinoa

  • diced avocado

  • extra virgin olive oil

  • fresh pepper

  • chopped chives/chive blossoms

  • edible flowers

• You can simmer home made vegetable stock with a few chopped up pieces of asparagus prior to making this to really amp up the sweet asparagus flavour. Usually the tough ends that get trimmed anyway are perfect for this!