The distinct flavours of asparagus two ways, lightly blanched and deeply roasted, combine with fresh and earthy baby spinach in this healthy and vegan asparagus and spinach soup.
Trim the stalks, the lower third, from the asparagus spears. Set the head and mid section aside.
To a baking tray, add the fresh asparagus stalks together with any frozen stalks you had retained from previous dishes.
Drizzle over some olive oil and toss the stalks to coat.
Place under the broiler until starting to char. Toss again to char the other sides of the stalks.
Add the stock and the roasted asparagus to a saucepan and bring up to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes, but not so long as the asparagus stalks start disintegrating.
Strain the stock and discard the stalks.
Add some olive oil to a saucepan and put over a medium low heat.
Cut the asparagus spears into 30-40 mm long pieces. Start measuring from the head end, so that you have got some nice consistent sized pieces to use as a garnish.
Sauté the asparagus in the olive oil until it turns bright green, about 3-5 minutes, depending on thickness. Remove from the saucepan and set aside.
Add the onion, garlic, and rice to the saucepan and sauté until the onion has softened and just starting to brown.
Add the baby spinach to the saucepan and stir fry until wilted.
Add the stock to the saucepan together with the salt and pepper. Bring up to a simmer and simmer for 15 minutes.
Select a few asparagus spears to use as a garnish, and add the rest of the sautéed asparagus to the saucepan. Simmer for 5 more minutes.
Use an immersion blender to blend the contents of the saucepan into smooth puree.
Adjust seasoning to suit your taste.
Serve into warm bowls and top with asparagus spears and a drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil.
Serve with bread. The picture above features a sourdough rye bread that had come out of the oven earlier in the day.