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Asparagus and leeks are both available in April and May when there is little else ready
for eating. Combined together they make a healthy, light, creamy tasting soup good for
adults and children.
Asparagus spears are best picked when young. If you want to use up taller, thicker spears
in a soup, it may be worth peeling or shaving them before cooking. The asparagus is prepared
by thoroughly cleaning and chopping into 5cm or 2 inch lengths.
Leeks are a very hardy vegetable that mature and swell with the spring rain. Leeks should
be dug up and thoroughly cleaned - it is common for soil to be trapped within the layers of
skin. Once the leeks are washed and the upper leaves cut away, they can be roughly chopped.
A final wash and rinse should remove any remaining dirt.
The soup also uses a small potato, chopped into small pieces, for flavour and to help
thicken the soup, and about 750g of vegetable stock (or a little more if you like a thinner
soup).
The first step is to sweat the leaks to sweeten them. Pour some olive oil in a pan, add the
leaks, cover with a lid, and cook over a medium heat. Regularly stir the leaks to prevent
them sticking. After five to ten minutes the leaks will be ready - taste for sweetness.
If the leeks are crunchy they need a little more cooking.
Next, all the remaining ingredients are added to the pan - the vegetable stock, asparagus,
and potatoes.
The mixture should be returned to the boil, and then left to gently simmer over a low
heat for a further 15 minutes. Cooking is complete when all the vegetables are soft
- almost crumbly - when touched with a fork.
The next stage is to liquidise the soup with a blender. For a more liquid soup without
bits, the mixture can be strained through a sieve. This gives a fine soup with a delicate
flavour.
The ingredients provide soup for four hungry people, recommended to serve with fresh bread.
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