Asparagus Soup With Bacon

With spring closing in, so is asparagus season. Seattle based Ewa Sack with the perfect recipe for Swedish asparagus soup with fried bacon.
Text And Photo By Ewa Sack

These are the days that I am longing for warm weather.  When April comes along I can’t take the cold and the rain anymore and want some sun and warm weather.  But I remind myself that I have to wait another month before it will even hit 70°F here and another 4 months before 80°F comes along, unless we get really lucky. That is Seattle for you, warm weather doesn’t hit here until July.  But then during July and August Seattle is one of the most gorgeous cities to be in with the water and the mountains, it is just breathe taking.

But again, it is just April and it is the season for asparagus.  A very popular soup in Sweden is Asparagus Soup “Sparrissoppa.” I am not sure why it is not as popular in the US, but this flavorful salty, sweet and creamy soup is one of my favorite soups.  Usually when I mention I am serving asparagus soup people don’t look too excited but once they have a taste they can’t stop eating it.

Asparagus Soup with Bacon

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Yields: 4-6 people

• ¾ lbs of asparagus (about 1 bunch from the store or little less than 2 cups (500 ml))
• 1 tsp butter
• 3 shallots
• 8 oz (230 g) bacon
• 2 cups (500 ml) chicken stock
• 1 cup (250 ml) cream
• 1 tsp balt
• Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Start with cleaning the asparagus and then cut into ½ inch pieces.  (Save a few pieces for presentation). Put the asparagus into a pot of water with 1 tsp salt and let boil for 2 minutes. Then remove the asparagus and set aside and dispose of the water.

2. Cut the bacon in ½ pieces and put into a frying pan.  Let the bacon cook until the desired crispy state.  I usually like mine just slightly browned not very crispy.

See Also

Rendang Ayam – Malaysian Dry Chicken Curry

3. On the side finely chop the 3 shallots and put that in a deep bottomed pot with 1 tsp of butter and sauté the shallots for 2-3 minutes. Then add the chicken stock and let it boil.  Then add the cream and the cooked asparagus. Let it simmer for 10 minutes.  After that puree the soup in a mixer to the desired state and put it back into the pot.

4. Add the bacon, salt and pepper to taste.

Another alternative could be to add fried mushrooms to the soup.

Serve soup and add a few asparagus pieces for presentation.