Asparagus Cheese Soup

Spring in full. The harbor is blue and the daffodils on the boulevard and the tulips in the garden outside the hospital are the specific yellow that is impossible to look at without feeling something open. I walk past them every morning going in and every evening going out and I look every time. You can choose to look at flowers or not look at flowers and I choose to look.

Liam says "outside" now. He goes to the door and says "outside" and if you don't respond immediately he escalates. He's discovered that language has consequences—that saying a word causes a thing to happen—and he's fully committed to applying this knowledge. "More." "Mama." "Up." "Outside." These are the words that move the world and he uses them with the confidence of someone who knows how power works.

I visited Meghan and Aidan on Saturday. He's three weeks old and already different from the photo Cormac sent at two AM—faces settle fast in the first weeks. He looks like a Shea, Meghan says, which means her side of the family. He was asleep the whole visit. I held him in the specific way you hold someone else's three-week-old, carefully, not wanting to wake him, feeling the particular weight of it that is different from any other weight in the world. Meghan ate two bowls of the soup I'd brought and then fell asleep on the couch. Liam toddled around her living room and Meghan's oldest watched him with the patience of a child who has understood that younger children require a different standard of attention.

Asparagus season. I make it roasted every spring and it's the first food that tastes like the actual season has arrived.

The soup I brought to Meghan was this one — asparagus cheese soup, which I’ve made every spring for years now, usually right when the first good bundles show up at the market and I remember all over again that this is the vegetable that announces the season more than any other. It felt right to bring it to her: something warm, something green, something that said it’s spring and you have a new baby and the world is generous. She had two bowls and I’m counting that as a success.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup whole milk
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Salt and black pepper to taste
Fresh chives or croutons for serving (optional)

Instructions

Sauté the aromatics. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Add the asparagus. Stir in the asparagus pieces and cook for 3–4 minutes, until they begin to soften slightly and turn bright green.
Build the base. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir well to coat. Cook for 1–2 minutes to eliminate the raw flour taste.
Simmer. Pour in the chicken broth and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 12–15 minutes, until the asparagus is fully tender.
Blend. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup until smooth, or carefully transfer in batches to a countertop blender. Return soup to the pot over low heat.
Add the dairy and cheese. Stir in the milk and sour cream until incorporated. Add the shredded cheddar a handful at a time, stirring after each addition until fully melted. Do not boil after this point.
Season and serve. Stir in the smoked paprika, then taste and adjust salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and top with fresh chives or croutons if desired.

Nutrition (per serving)

Asparagus Cheese Soup — The Soup That Tastes Like Spring Finally Arrived