Creamy Asparagus Soup with Avocado

I was in the mood for a very creamy soup so I put together this velvety mix of tender asparagus, potato, avocado and a dollop of sour cream.

This was a wondrously silky soup and it can easily be made dairy free by trading out the butter for all olive oil and exchanging the sour cream dollop with extra avocado! The soup would be vegan with these changes as well as choosing vegetable broth.

On the other hand, I think this soup could be made without the avocado if you add extra sour cream. This is a really versatile recipe and you could change it around easily to suite your needs!

 

Creamy Asparagus Soup with Avocado

3 TBSP butter, OR 3 TBSP olive oil  OR 1 ½ TBSP each
1 small onion, white or sweet, diced
1 large or 2 small potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 bunch asparagus, washed with tough end snapped off

1-2 clove garlic

Salt and pepper to taste, I used about a tsp of salt and a few grinds of pepper
½ -1 tsp lemon pepper
1 tsp ginger paste, optional

½ tsp garlic powder

4 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 small avocado

1/3 cup sour cream  Optional, may skip and add another small avocado

 

In a large deep pot, heat butter or oil on medium low heat.  Add onion and cook for 4 minutes.

Then add potatoes and while the potatoes and onion cook for eight minutes or so, cut the asparagus into 1 inch pieces reserving  the tender tips to add later.

Add asparagus, except reserved tip pieces to the pot. Add garlic, spices and seasoning g. Cook stirring occasionally for a few more minutes then add broth.

Simmer for about 30 minutes or until all of the vegetables are very tender. This will probably be longer than you would normally cook vegetables and it may make you nervous but they need to be soft to puree completely to a silky consistency.

Remove soup from the heat and add avocado and sour cream, if you are using it.

Next you will let the soup cool a bit so you can puree it.

While you are cooling soup you can quickly steam the asparagus tips to tender crispness or you can wait and add them to the soup after it is pureed and cook them right in the soup. If you choose to steam them separately it will mean another pan to wash but you have more control over cooking it. But it would be fine to heat in the soup at a low temperature after it is pureed.

To puree, you may use a blender, which will probably yield the silkiest soup or a hand held immersion blender which is less clean up and can do a good job.   Either way let the soup cool before blending. If using a blender, I let it cool a bit longer and don’t overfill your blender.

Blend soup until silky and smooth. Return soup to the pan and heat up on low. Add asparagus pieces. Enjoy your creamy soup!