Asparagus Soup with Puff Pastry Croutons

Ingredients

• 1 pinch salt
• 25 g butter
• 75 g flour
• 2 Eggs
• 500 g white asparagus
• 500 g Green Asparagus
• 1 onion
• 150 g waxy potatoes
• 2 tbsp butter
• 100 ml dry white wine
• 600 ml Vegetable Broth
• 150 ml Heavy Cream
• 50 g crème fraîche
• Salt
• freshly grated nutmeg
• chervil (for garnish)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. 2.

   For the puff pastry, bring 125 ml water, salt, and butter to a quick boil. Then add all of the flour at once and stir. Cook over medium heat until a large dough ball forms and a white film appears on the bottom of the pot. Transfer the dough to a bowl, let it cool for about 5 minutes, then beat in the eggs one at a time with an electric hand mixer’s kneading hooks. Pipe the dough into a piping bag fitted with a round tip and place approximately 16 small dots spaced evenly on the baking sheet.

3. 3.

   Bake in the preheated oven for 15–20 minutes, remove, and let cool.

4. 4.

   For the soup, peel the lower third of the green asparagus and fully peel the white asparagus. Place all skins in a pot, cover with water, and simmer gently covered for about 10 minutes. Strain through a sieve to collect the broth. Trim the tips off the white asparagus and cut both types into 2–3 cm pieces. Peel and dice the onion and potatoes. Sauté the onion in 1 tbsp hot butter until translucent; add the potatoes and asparagus pieces, deglaze with white wine. Add the vegetable broth and asparagus stock, cover, and simmer gently for about 20 minutes until tender. Stir in the cream and blend the soup finely. Optionally strain again and reduce further or add more broth to reach desired consistency. Return the green asparagus and white asparagus tips to the pot and cook on low heat for another 10 minutes. Finish by folding in crème fraîche, seasoning with salt and nutmeg.

5. 5.

   Serve the soup in bowls, placing a few puff pastry croutons on top of each. Garnish with chervil and serve.