Creamy Asparagus Ramp Soup
This quick and easy creamy asparagus ramp soup makes a great first course or, jazzed up with some substantial garnishes, a satisfying lunch or dinner on its own. If you don't have ramps, it's totally cool to just chop up 20 cloves of garlic and add them to the pot with the onion instead.
Servings: 4
Calories: 251kcal
Ingredients
For the soup
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) butter
- 5 ounces (142 grams) ramps or 20 garlic cloves
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 2 pounds (907 grams) asparagus
- 4 cups (945 ml) low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup (120 ml) heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
To garnish, optional
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) safflower oil
- 8 ounces (227 grams) halloumi cheese
- 12 grape or cherry tomatoes
- Microgreens or sliced ramp leaves
Instructions
To make the soup
- Melt the butter in a medium pot over medium heat.
- Add diced onion to pot (along with ramp bulbs or garlic, if using) and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to soften, just a few minutes.
- Trim woody ends from asparagus and discard, then chop asparagus into 1-inch pieces.
- Add asparagus to pot along with ramp leaves, broth, and salt.
- Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover and reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer until asparagus is tender, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Off the heat, stir in cream, lemon juice, and pepper.
- Use an immersion blender or transfer soup to a blender (in batches if necessary) and process until perfectly smooth.
To garnish (optional)
- The soup is great by itself, but this substantial garnish makes it extra pretty and turns it into a more filling meal. Warm the safflower oil in a 10-inch nonstick pan over medium-high heat.
- Dice the halloumi, add to pan and cook until browned on a few sides, about 5 minutes.
- Slice tomatoes in half lengthwise.
- Pour soup into serving bowls and top with a few pieces of halloumi, some tomatoes and a small handful of microgreens or sliced ramp leaves.
Notes
- Buying ramp leaves rather than whole ramps with the bulbs still attached is the best way to ensure they've been harvested sustainably. If you've bought or foraged them with the bulbs attached, trim and discard the roots. Then cut the ramps to separate bulbs from leaves. Add the bulbs to the pot at the same time as the onion to give them a few extra minutes to mellow.
- If using garlic instead of ramps, roughly chop and add to the pot with the onion.
- You can use thin or thick stalks of asparagus — whatever's available. Remove any woody parts, then cut into segments.
- Use whatever stock or broth you like, from a good-quality boxed veggie broth (like this one) to homemade stock.
- To make this soup really silky and creamy without any straining or thickeners, I blitzed it up in our Vitamix high-speed blender. It’s one of my favorite and most frequently used kitchen tools. If you have a high-speed blender, this is the place to use it. If not, you can definitely use a regular blender or an immersion blender. Just double-check whether the soup is perfectly smooth after blending, and if not, consider passing it through a fine-mesh strainer before serving.
- You can make this soup up to a few days in advance and reheat until just hot. Leftovers will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for a week, or in the freezer for up to a year.
Nutrition
Calories: 251kcal | Carbohydrates: 17.3g | Protein: 6.6g | Fat: 19.2g | Fiber: 5.3g