Creamy Asparagus & Garlic Scape Soup

Right now asparagus is EVERYWHERE here. You'll find it in the regular grocery store from South America, or you can get smart and buy it from a farmer. I usually get mine from our local Farmhouse Table Store or the farmer's market, but this time, I bought it from a gal parked on the side of the road. I bought 10 pounds with which to make pickled asparagus for bloody Marys, but I wasn't thinking about the fact that these fresh stalks would be 12 inches tall, at least. When you make your pickled spears, you only use about the top 4-5 inches, so there was a whole lot of perfectly edible stalk in the middle, before getting down to the woody bottom. In this case, there was exactly three pounds, so soup seemed like the logical way to salvage a whole lot of produce. I added garlic scapes to the recipe just because they add a very mild garlic flavor, and honestly, it was a great way to use the whopping 3 scapes I had from my garden.

Creamy Asparagus & Garlic Scape Soup

Ingredients

3 lbs fresh asparagus, chopped into about 1-inch sections

3 garlic scapes, chopped1 large onion, chopped
3 T olive oil
6 C chicken stock

1/2 C vermouth

4 C water1 C heavy cream

1/2 lemon, juiced

chives for garnish

salt & pepper 

Heat olive oil in a heavy soup pot on medium heat. Add onion and garlic scapes, and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Add asparagus, and vermouth. Turn up heat to medium high until nearly all of the vermouth has cooked out. Add stock and water. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 25 minutes. Add cream and blend into soup with a stick blender. Add lemon juice. Combine and taste. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with fresh chives.