Jersey royal and asparagus soup
There's a brief overlap in the season of Jersey Royals and asparagus, so take advantage of it with this soup. By all means use leftover asparagus trimmings from other dishes.
Since asparagus is expensive, it makes sense to use every bit, but a really good soup also needs whole spears or it tastes mean. Don't add more than a teacupful of stock, or the delicate asparagus flavour will be overwhelmed.
10oz/280g asparagus spears and trimmings
4oz/110g Jersey Royal new potatoes, scraped and diced into pea-sized cubes
2 tbsp butter
1 leek, thinly sliced
A teacupful of chicken stock
Milk (optional)
Method
Slice the asparagus thinly, leaving the tips whole. Put the tips, a few slices of asparagus and a few of the diced potatoes to one side.
Heat the butter in a pan and cook the leek and the rest of the potatoes for five minutes, until the leek is soft but not coloured. Add the chicken stock and ūpint/425ml of water and bring to simmering point.
Cook for 5 minutes, or until the asparagus and potatoes are soft but not overcooked. Blend them in a liquidiser (give the mixture a good minute to get really smooth) and pass through a sieve. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Simmer the reserved asparagus and potato in the minimum of water until just done. Add to the soup and reheat gently, thinning it with some of the asparagus cooking water or a little milk if necessary.
