I wanted a soup with depth of flavor but without cream or butter. Roasting the garlic and the asparagus tips and caramelizing the onion gives it a richness without the dairy. The family gave it an A+.
This is a non-dairy soup and if you make it with vegetable broth, vegetarian, too.
Asparagus Soup with Roasted Garlic and Dried Tomatoes
1 lb. fresh asparagus
1 head of garlic
1 med. onion, chopped
olive oil
1 quart of vegetable or chicken broth
1/4 cup coarsely chopped sun-dried tomatoes, reconstituted
salt & pepper
Wash asparagus and cut or snap off the woody ends. Give the ends to your chickens. Chop off the asparagus tips (about 2 inches). Toss the tips in a drizzle of olive oil to coat and spread out in a small roasting pan. Remove the outermost papery cover from the garlic head and chop off the top 1/4 in. or so of the cloves, exposing the garlic. Place garlic in the roasting pan with the asparagus and drizzle with olive oil. Roast the asparagus and garlic in a 350 degree F oven for about 25 minutes or until the garlic is soft and can be squeezed out of the skins and the asparagus tips are beginning to brown. Remove from the oven and set aside.
Meanwhile, steam the asparagus stalks until soft and tender but not absolute mush. Drain and set aside to cool.
Saute the chopped onion until nicely caramelized. Remove from heat.
Place the cooked asparagus stalks (not the tips) in the blender. Add the garlic, squeezed from the skins, the caramelized onion and about a cup of the broth (enough to facilitate pureeing). Process until smooth.
Heat the remaining broth in a pan over medium heat. Add the pureed asparagus mixture. Very coarsely chop the asparagus tips and add them and the sun-dried tomatoes to the soup.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Makes 2 large bowls of soup with a little left over. Would make 4 cup-sized servings.
Sounds fabulous. I do love a good veggie soup and am happy to eat caramelized onions on their own. I’ll have to try and remember this one when asparagus season comes around again Down Under.
This sounds really yummy. Thanks for a great, simple (or simply great) recipe
Have you tried roasting the whole asparagus stalk, after you remove the woody part? Then the asparagus you puree for the soup would add even more to the rich, roasted depth of the soup.
BTW, roasted asparagus also very good as a side veggie or a starter, if you add some shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano right after it comes out of the oven, so it can melt a little. Very decadent finger food.
carolinagirl–When I roast asparagus, maybe I’m doing something wrong, but the stalks get a little dried out and tough. That’s why I only roasted the tips, they don’t seem to do that on me. I bet if I covered them in foil it would do better?
Sounds delish!
Still waiting on asparagus in NW Ohio. Won’t be long now!
Oooooo! Two of our favorites: roasted asparagus with garlic AND carmelized onions! I am definitely giving this one a try.
That sounds so good. Asparagus is soon in season also! I will have to try this. My family loves to have different soups year round.