Cooking and Baking with Heart

Asparagus Soup

This is a eighteenth century recipe from a manuscript in the Madam collection, Edinburgh. Thr peas or spinach help to give it a clear green colour.
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Serves 6

1. 20 asparagus spears
2. 900 ml (1 1/2 prints) chicken stock (cubes will do)
3. 225 g (8 oz) green peas or chopped spinach
4. 1 teaspoon sugar
5. salt
6. pepper
7. 25 g (1 oz) butter
8. 25 g (1 oz) plain flour
9. 150 ml (1/4 pint) milk
10. 6 tablespoons double cream
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Peperation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
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1. Discard all but the top 6 - 8 cm ( 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 inches) of the soup bitter. Cut the remainder into 2.5 cm (1 inch) lengths. Reserve a few 1 cm (1/2 inch) tips for garnishing and cook these seperately for 10 minutes in a little boiling, salted water.
2. Bring the stock to the boil, put in the asparagus, the peas or chopped spinach, the sugar and seasoning and boil till the vegetables are tender.
3. Purée the vegetables and stock in a food processor or push trough a sieve.
4. Melt the butter in a saucepan, stir the flour, and add the asparagus purée. Bring to the boil, stirring in the milk.
5. To serve, stir in the cream, and add a few asparagus tios to each bowl.

We do not know if it looks like the picture.

Source: Original British Cooking