Cold white asparagus soup with fennel, lemon and dill for a spring buffet or Easter brunch

Perfectly light spring or summer soup made from asparagus, fennel, lemon and dill. To serve as a fresh start of an Easter brunch or as a palate cleanser in between courses.

Other recipes with white asparagus

Ingredients

This soup is really basic, with only a few simple and fresh ingredients.

• White asparagus – If you have average sized asparagus use 12 to 15. If really thin or thick use more or less. They need t make up just a little more than half of the soup.
• Fennel – One bulb. Can beat bit bigger than the one I used (see image below).
• Lemon – One, for zesting and juicing.
• Dill – Fresh, a small handful.
• Water -About 2½ cups. So together with the lemon juice you will have about 3 cups of fluids.

Difference between green and white asparagus

In Holland we mean the white ones when we just say ‘asparagus’. If you mean the green you explicitly say so. I learned that in a lot of countries it’s the other way around. Green asparagus are commonly known and a lot of people have never eaten white. The taste is quite comparable, but white asparagus are much softer in texture. Almost buttery and they can really melt in your mouth. The greens don’t need peeling and can be eaten raw. But the whites always have to be peeled first and they need some (very short) cooking, steaming or grilling.

Asparagus season

Every year I look forward to the asparagus season. In the Netherlands you can buy the first asparagus from the end of February. These are often grown behind glass. This used to be from mid-March, but it seems to be a little earlier every year. In this first period they are still a bit expensive and they are not yet available in the supermarket. From April on asparagus also are available from what we call ‘the open ground’. May is the peak time. Asparagus are widely available then and much more affordable. In the summer you won’t find any fresh asparagus anymore… And I start longing for next year.

How to cook asparagus?

You can cook, steam or grill asparagus. Normally I cook them with the peels (and make soup from the cooking liquid). Here you prepare them together in the cooking pot with the fennel, so I don’t add the peels. You can save them to make a separate bouillon.

How should you peel asparagus?

There will certainly be chef-proof methods. But I’m quite happy with my own method: just with a potato peeler.

• First make sure there is no sand left in the heads of the asparagus. You can carefully rinse the tops under the tap.
• Lay the asparagus flat on your workbench.
• Hold just below the head. One or two fingers is enough. Do not press too firmly, otherwise the asparagus will break.
• Then peel from where your finger is to the end. This way you get one long, thin peel in one long stroke. Usually just enough to remove the woody, stringy material that forms the skin.
• Then turn the asparagus and repeat. You wil need about 5 or 6 small turns.
• Everything that has been properly peeled is now a bit lighter and moist. It shines a bit. You can easily spot any pieces of skin that you may have missed and give them another small slicing.
• After peeling cut off the ends. Only now (after peeling) you can judge how woody the bottom is and how much needs to be removed.

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