Aspergesoep

"Aspergesoep is afvalsoep" I read somewhere on the internet, and I'd have to agree: asparagus soup is made with all the waste from an asparagus dinner. But what a soup! The sweet earthy flavor of the asparagus and the soft, silky mouthfeel is comforting but not heavy.

After you prepare asparagus for dinner, boil the skins and the end pieces in the remaining asparagus water, cover and simmer for a good thirty minutes, then put the liquid through a sieve. You should have about four to five cups of vegetable broth. Add half a bouillon cube of chicken stock to the broth.

Save four or five asparagus from dinner, and cut them into three or four pieces. Keep the heads and add the rest to the soup. Purée into a homogenous whole. Now melt two tablespoons of butter in a pan, add two heaping tablespoons of flour, stir until you have a paste and add in a ladle full of hot soup. Keep stirring and add one or two more ladles of soup...then pour everything into the big pot, stir until it all comes together and simmer it for another five minutes.

Cut up the remaining ham of your dinner in small dice, and chop some parsley. Taste the soup and adjust it with salt if needed, then stir in 1/4 cup of cream or whole milk. Divide the asparagus points over four bowls, ladle the hot soup on top, sprinkle with parsley and enjoy!


6 comments:

  1. hey do you know somebody from the netherlands that would be willing to send me by train a package filled with albert heijn goodies? like roze koeken, marzipan, etc dutch traditional sweets? i will pay for the package of course. i will pay at arrival the cost of the sweets, post taxes, and a little extra for the person that sends them.
    i know this comment sounds strange but i studied there for half a year and i really really miss those delicious sweets. i don't know if i am able to come visit soon so i would like to buy without getting out of my country. any response (affirmative or negative) is appreciated. and by the way i love your blog!

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  2. Hey Maddle,
    Thanks for stopping by the blog! I have good news: there are several companies here in the US that will be more than happy to ship Dutch food to you. Go to www.dutchinamerica.com, click on Links and select Dutch-American Stores and Food. The second bullet is a link to a page with price comparisons for several stores. Hope this helps!

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  3. thank you very much nicole! the thing is... i am not from the US.i'm from europe,more exactly from romania and that is only around 2000 km far from NL. so i guess buying from the US would be more expensive than actually buying from NL. do you know any alternatives?

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  4. Maddle, no worries. The stores in the link on www.dutchinamerica.com are all located in the Netherlands. They ship worldwide, so order away!! How fun!

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  5. oh that sounds better! thank you very much nicole!

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  6. you need to add cold roux to hot liquid. for even distribution and to avoid clumping.dont add hot roux to hot liquid vice versa. and don't add cold roux to cold liquid. you can do hot to cold. or cold to hot, but never both on both sides

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