Roasted Asparagus Soup #SoupSwappers

Whenever it's Spring, I find myself cooking with lots of asparagus. And it got me thinking about hosting a Spring soup event for the Soup Saturday Swappers that is organized by Wendy of A Day on the Life on the Farm.

I asked to host this month and I wrote: "Winter is loosening its grip on the world...and our produce. Let's create and share some soups that feature the darlings of Spring. Think fennel, peas, and whatever tickles your fancy."

I decided to go with asparagus, but first...

The Spring Soup Pots

An InLinkz Link-up

Ingredients

• 2 to 2-1/2 pounds asparagus, ends trimmed
• 4 Spring onions, outer layer peeled away 
• olive oil
• freshly ground sea salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 2 C organic chicken broth
• 2 T ground almonds
• organic lemon for garnish

Procedure

Preheat oven to 400F. Place the asparagus spears and Spring onions into baking pans. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 minutes. Turn the veggies and return to the oven. Roast for another 10 more minutes, until asparagus is very tender and the onions are silky. 

While the veggies are roasting, blend 1/2 cup of the broth with the ground almonds until smooth. Leave it in the blender.

When the veggies are done, set aside the prettiest ones for use as garnish. Cut the remaining asparagus and onions into smaller pieces and put them in the blender. Pour in the remaining broth.

Cover the blender and blend on high until silky smooth. Add salt to taste, if needed; I didn't need any. I served this chilled, but I'm sure it would be great served hot, too. Ladle into serving bowls. Float a thin-sliced lemon on top. And garnish with an asparagus tip.