Recipe- Creamy Asparagus Soup

Winter is well and truly here in Melbourne. Unfortunately. But that also means it's the perfect soup weather!

Soup is the perfect way to warm up and get your vegetables in! I grabbed the asparagus I used in my soup at the South Melbourne Market  on Sunday and this soup was the perfect way to use them.

Creamy Asparagus Soup

1/2 small onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 slices of bacon (optional)
1 T butter
1 T olive oil
2 bunches of asparagus
1-2 stalks of celery (optional)
2 cups of chicken stock
1 T parmesan
Cream (to taste, but I used around 2 T)
Salt and pepper (to taste)

Finely chop onion, garlic, bacon (if using) and celery. Heat oil and butter in a pan, add onion, bacon, garlic and celery. Cook until softened, stirring often to make sure it doesn't burn (or your soup will have a brownish hue). Rinse and chop asparagus into 5mm pieces. Add to pot, and stir to cover in all the delicious buttery goodness. Add chicken stock and a little cracked black pepper. Cover, bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft.

Pour soup mixture into blender or food processor. Add cream and parmesan, blend and taste. Blend until smooth, tasting and adding more seasoning as you need.

Serve with a swirl of cream and chopped parsley.