Creamy asparagus soup with crispy ham

It’s that time of year again! Asparagus season! The time that you can get those delicious white asparagus. I’ve made this delicious and easy asparagus soup both with fresh asparagus and with asparagus from a jar. It’s the perfect spring soup.

Asparagus soup with crispy parma ham

Funny enough my favorite asparagus are the green ones. They’re just easier to make and require no peeling and things like that. But I do like to make an exception for this delicious creamy asparagus soup. It’s super easy to make and in combination with the crispy parma ham it is also the best soup for Easter or any other spring occasion. 

How to make the asparagus soup

Making this simple soup is super easy to do. You first start by taking a large pot or heavy soup pot or large saucepan and add vegetable broth. Bring to the boil while you clean and peel a bunch of asparagus. Chop of the bottom part which can be quite hard and woody. 

Chop the asparagus into 2-inch pieces and add the chopped asparagus to the pan. Boil on medium heat for about 20 minutes or until the asparagus are tender. Strain the broth (don’t throw it away!) and set aside. Keeping the asparagus. You can separate the tops of the asparagus and use the reserved asparagus tips for decorating the soup as well. 

Making the creamy soup

Now the next part of this is an extra step to this easy soup recipe but it is worth it as it does add extra flavor. You take the same pan that you used for cooking the asparagus and you add the butter (unsalted) to it. Gently sauté the leeks and the cooked asparagus in the butter. Adding some garlic cloves is also definitely a good option here, but you can do without if you want.

Now ad the flour to the pan and stir well. Add a little bit of broth at the time until it starts to thicken. Add all the broth until you have a delicious nice and thick creamy soup. Using an immersion blender puree the soup and season with salt and pepper.  You can also puree the soup with a regular blender or a food processor. 

Crispy parma ham

I’ve served the soup with crispy parma ham. To make this you take a small skillet and add a bit of olive oil. Bake the parma ham until crispy and let it drain on kitchen paper towel. It will crisp up that way.

Serving

For serving this easy cream of asparagus soup you add a dash of heavy cream and some chopped chives. You can either crumble the parma ham over the top or served the ham on the side. The soup is also delicious with these puff pastry cheese sticks.

Additions and variations

Now this simple asparagus soup is delicious as it is but you can easily make variations and additions to the soup if you want. Instead of the vegetable broth you can use chicken broth. You can add other fresh herbs to the soup as well depending on what you like. You can serve it with a bit of coconut milk instead of the heavy cream if you want to make a paleo version of the asparagus soup. or lactose free version.

Also if you’ve used asparagus in another recipe and you have peel and asparagus stalks leftover? You can make a delicious asparagus broth out of that which you can then use again for making this delicious soup. It’s a great way to reduce food waste too. And it will increase the asparagus flavor.

The soup is also delicious served with a poached egg inside or a bit of parmesan cheese grated over the top. Adding some crusty bread on the side will make it more filling as it is a fairly light dinner. Would also work perfectly for a starter. Adding a bit of creme fraiche or sour cream to the soup will make it even creamier.

Making the soup with canned asparagus

Now making this asparagus soup is easy with fresh asparagus and even easier with canned asparagus. If using canned (making it cheaper too!) you simply chop the asparagus and skip the entire first step. You start the process by adding the leeks and asparagus to the pan. The rest of the steps are the same.