Roasted Asparagus Soup

Creamy and rich, this roasted asparagus soup is made with potatoes, celery and shallots. It's full of flavor, topped with sour cream and crispy prosciutto. 

I had a completely different plan for this post but when I saw the skinny little asparagus on offer at my local supermarket, I had to pivot. The little guys wouldn’t have made a great baked dish – my original intention - but I did think they would add a lot of flavor to a soup, especially if I roasted them.

And since I was preparing this as part of our New Year’s Eve menu, a dollop of sour cream and some leftover prosciutto from Christmas seemed like a good addition to fancy it up. 

Roasted Asparagus Soup

This recipe is adapted from one on Food52. It makes four servings. If you don't have white pepper, by all means sprinkle in some cayenne or black pepper. The soup won't be as purely green but taste matters more!

Ingredients 

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 lb or 450g green asparagus, trimmed

2-3 pinches flakey sea salt

8 oz or 225g waxy potatoes (like Yukon golds)

1 stalk celery

1 clove garlic

1 small shallot

2 tablespoons butter

4 cups or almost 1 L chicken or vegetable stock

White pepper, to taste

Optional garnishes:

Sour cream

Prosciutto or bacon, fried till crispy with a drizzle of olive oil

Method

Heat the oven to 400°F or 200°F. Drizzle the asparagus with the olive oil, using a basting brush to make sure they are coated all over with the oil. 

Sprinkle with flakey sea salt then roast for 15 minutes. 

While the asparagus are roasting, peel and cut your potatoes in pieces. Mince the garlic and finely chop the celery. Thinly slice the shallot.

When the asparagus are done, leave them to cool a bit, then cut into pieces, setting aside 8 tips to use later for garnish when you serve. 

In a large pot that will hold all of your ingredients, melt the butter and cook the shallots, celery and garlic over a low heat, until soft.

Stir in the potatoes and stock. 

Turn up the heat, bring to a boil, then simmer, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in the asparagus.

Process in a blender, in batches, or with a stick blender in the pot until smooth. 

I used a stick blender and noticed that some of the more fibrous bits of asparagus were getting caught on the blades. I decided, in the interest of making this a smooth soup, to strain it. I poured it through a small colander first and then put it through a fine strainer, mashed all of the liquid out and discarded the fibers. If you don’t mind the bits in your soup, you can skip this step. 

Season to taste with the salt and white pepper. 

Garnish each serving with a dollop of sour cream and a few crispy bits of prosciutto or bacon, if desired. Put two crossed asparagus tips on top of each serving.

Enjoy!

Happy New Year and here we go again, starting at A for the 2025 rendition of the Alphabet Challenge! Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the great A recipes in the links below. 

• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Aglio e Olio Pasta
• Sneha’s Recipe: Aloo Phulkopir Dalna 
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Apple Latkes 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Apples and Greens with Apple Vinaigrette 
• Blogghetti: Apple Pie Tacos 
• Magical Ingredients : Artichoke Baby Greens Dip 
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Avocado, Bean & Mango Salad 
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Creamy Parmesan Acini di Pepe with Potatoes 
• A Messy Kitchen: Dianna’s Almond Cake 
• Food Lust People Love: Roasted Asparagus Soup 

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Amarena Cherry Lemon Muffins #MuffinMonday

Made with delicious Amarena wild cherries and their syrup, these fluffy cherry lemon muffins are perfect for snack or teatime. 

I'm guessing that most of you aren't cherry snobs because nor was I until just a few short weeks ago! A maraschino cherry was a maraschino cherry. Red, bright and sweet. 

But then I learned about Luxardo cherries and had to buy some. Guys, they are a world apart from the jarred cherries we can buy in a grocery store with a price tag to match. Enter the Amarena cherries at Costco! They are also more expensive than grocery store maraschinos but they come in a very large jar making them much cheaper than Luxardos. 

And, to make cherry buying decisions even easier, when I did just a little research, their reviews online are better too. We did a taste test and the Amarenas slightly outdid the Luxardos. 

Amarena Cherry Lemon Muffins

If you don't have fancy cherries though, by all means use the grocery store maraschinos. Lemon and cherries are a great combination. This recipe makes about 16 regular muffins.

Ingredients

2 cups or 250g flour

1/3 cup or 66g sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 small lemon (for zest and 4 teaspoons juice)

2 eggs

1/2 cup or 120ml milk

1/3 cup or 75ml canola or other light oil

1/4 cup Amarena cherry syrup, plus extra to brush on, if desired

5 2/3 oz or 142g Amarena cherries (about 3/4 cup once halved)

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.  Butter or grease your muffin pans or line them with paper liners.

Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large mixing bowl.

Grate in the lemon zest and mix.

Juice your lemon. Halve your cherries and set 16 pieces aside for topping the muffins.

Put the bigger pile of cut cherries in the flour mixture and toss well to cover.

In another smaller bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, oil, cherry syrup and lemon syrup.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and fold until just mixed through.

Divide the mixture between the muffin cups in pan.  Top with reserved cherry halves.

Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Allow them to cool for a few minutes then remove the muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.

Brush on a little extra cherry syrup, if desired. 

Enjoy!

It's the last Monday of the month so that means it's time for Muffin Monday! Many thanks to Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories who stepped up and created this link list. Check out all the great muffin recipes we have for you today! 

• Amarena Cherry Lemon Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Cranberry Eggnog Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Honey Corn Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Orange and Pear Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Orange Poppy Seed Mini Muffins from A Messy Kitchen
• Sourdough Cranberry Banana Muffins from Zesty South Indian Kitchen

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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Scotch Quail Eggs

Soft-boiled on the inside and crunchy on the outside, these tasty Scotch Quail Eggs are wrapped with sausage meat and covered in panko before frying. 

The culinary origin of Scotch eggs is much debated but what all the sources I can find do agree on is that they aren’t actually Scotch, that is to say, they don’t come from Scotland. 

More than likely, they are English with both a grocer called William J Scott & Sons in Yorkshire as well as the London gourmet food purveyor Fortnum and Mason claiming to have created them. Fortnum and Mason from as far back at 1738, predating the Yorkshire claim by close to 150 years. 

Whoever made the first ones, they are still on the menu in many pubs all over the United Kingdom. Normally made with hen’s eggs, they are a substantial snack. My quail egg version is much less filling, so they make an excellent addition to an appetizer spread or party table. 

Scotch Quail Eggs

Here in the States, your typical British sausage is hard to come by. Fortunately, we do have a company that makes them in Houston but you can substitute another raw pork sausage meat (not breakfast sausage though) with the caveat that American sausages are generally more coarse and saltier than their British counterparts. I buy my fresh quail eggs at local Asian supermarkets. 

Ingredients

20 quail eggs

1 lb or 450g Cumberland sausages 

2-3 sprigs fresh thyme plus more for garnish, if desired

1 large egg

1 tablespoon milk

1 cup or 70g panko

For frying: canola or other light oil

Method

Bring a small pot of water to a simmer. Ready a bowl of ice water nearby. 

For soft boiled, which is always my goal, put four quail eggs in the simmering water at a time. 

Leave to cook 2 1/2 minutes, stirring often so that they cook evenly. Remove the eggs with slotted spoon and put them in the ice water. 

Peel the ones in the ice water immediately, starting at the pointy end. Add four more quail’s eggs to the pot, remembering to stir so they cook evenly. Repeat till all the quails’ eggs are cooked and peeled.

 

I forgot to stir one batch and they were not cooked evenly so peeling them was a challenge. Hence those are sitting in spoons for support. They still made lovely Scotch eggs. 

Squeeze the sausage meat into a bowl, discarding the skins, then pick the thyme leaves off the sprigs and add them to the bowl. Stir well to mix. 

Beat the egg in a shallow bowl with the milk. Place the panko into another bowl.

Weigh the sausage mixture and then divide it into 20 equal pieces. 

Shape the sausage around the quail eggs.

Carefully pinch the sausage around the egg and roll into a ball. 

At this point, you can continue with the preparation or chill in the fridge until you are ready to cook them. 

Roll each ball in the beaten egg.

Then in the panko until fully coated.

Using a thermometer, heat about 2 in or 5cm of oil in a deep pan to 350°F or 180ºC and very carefully fry the Scotch eggs in batches of three, for 1 to 2 minutes, or until golden brown, turning halfway through so the sausage layer is fully cooked. 

Remove with caution and drain on paper towels. Put some newspaper or a brown paper bag underneath for more absorption. I lower the Scotch eggs in and remove them with a slotted spoon, so the oil can’t splash and burn me. I recommend you do the same. 

Serve warm.

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay so today we are sharing nibbles for New Year's Eve! Many thanks to our host, Camilla of Culinary Cam. Check out the link list below. 

• Seared Scallops in Lobster Creme from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Boiled Egg Sandwiches from Sneha's Recipe
• Cranberry Brie Bites from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Fried Cheesy Pickles from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• From Cheesy to Chocolatey - Using My Caquelon All Evening Long from Culinary Cam
• Mushroom Duxelle on Toast from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Scotch Quail Eggs from Food Lust People Love

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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