Asparagus soup

Chicken broth:

• Soup chicken (or bone) 1.2-1.5 kg
• Carrot 1 large piece
• Sellery 1 piece
• Leek 1 piece
• Whole garlic 1 piece
• Spring onion 2-3 pieces
• Large onion 1 piece
• Peppercorns 1-2 tablespoon(s)
• Cloves 2 pieces
• Bayleaf 2 pieces
• Thyme 5 grams
• Parsley 5 grams
• Chicken broth cube 1 piece
• 3.5 liters of water
• Salt & pepper

Asparagus broth:

• 3 liters of water
• Asparagus 4 kg (unpeeld)

Soup:

• Ham 400 grams
• Large onion 1 piece
• Garlic cloves 4-5 pieces
• Flour 3-4 tablespoons
• Unsalted Butter 125 grams
• Heavy cream (or whip cream) 250 ml
• Thyme 10 grams
• Parsley 10-15 grams
• Sherry or white wine 200 ml
• Egg 2-3 pieces
• Salt & pepper

Making the broth:

1. Prepare the chicken for the oven by rubbing it with salt and pepper.
2. Grill the chicken in the oven/grill until it’s golden brown, roughly 30 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius. Juices will come out, so use a tray to capture the juices.
3. Peel the onion and carrot and cut away the stems. Half the onion, cut the carrot and sellery in large chunks. Half the whole garlic clove so the garlic is parted and exposed, do not peel it. Remove the stem of the leek, chop a large chunk of the greens off, not all, take off the first layer and cut it lengthwise. Clean the leek thoroughly as it contains sand. Clean the spring onion. Chop the sellery into similar sized pieces as the carrot.
4. Add all the vegetables, chicken including the juices, spices & herbs, chicken broth cube and water to the pot. Let this simmer for 3-5 hours.
5. Strain all the solids from the broth, make sure to squeeze all the juices out of the solids.
6. Let it cool down and refrigerate overnight, the next day you can scoop off the fat if needed.

Making the asparagus broth:

7. Peel all your asparagus and cut about 2.5 cm off the bottom part. Save these for the broth. Cut all asparagus into 2.5 cm pieces, cut and save the tops separate.
8. Get a big pot to boil the asparagus in the following order. Blanch the top for 60 sec. Strain and set aside. Cook the 2.5 cm chunks of asparagus for 2:00 minutes, strain and set aside. Cook the peels and bottom parts for 3:00, strain and discard.
9. Preferably strain the broth through a super fine mesh to make it as clean as possible.

Making the soup:

10. Chop the onions and mince the thyme. Add the onion to a pot with butter and fry it until soft.
11. In a separate pan add the tops of the asparagus on low heat with some butter, salt and pepper. Fry until nice and brown. Set aside when finished
12. Add ½ to ⅔ of the cut asparagus to the pot and fry these for a min. Keep the rest apart, don’t add the tops yet.
13. Add the flour in table spoon batches, mix until incorporated. Fry the mix for 1-2 min, don’t let it burn it will stick a little bit to the bottom.
14. Add the wine or sherry to the pot and mix well. When the alcohol is cooked off the chicken broth and asparagus broth can be added 50/50. Each 1 latte per time, keep stirring everything until all fluid is nicely distributed. The soup will keep getting smoother and liquid over time. Do this until you reach your desired thickness and amount.
15. Let the soup simmer for about 1 hour, after this it’s time to blend. Blend everything until smooth.
16. Mince the parsley fine. Boil the eggs until hard.
17. Add the leftover asparagus and tips. Add the cream, a few tablespoons of butter and some parsley to the soup, mix to incorporate everything. Salt and pepper to taste if needed. Let it set for about 5-10 min.
18. Cut the ham and eggs in small chunks.
19. Top the soup with the ham, egg and leftover parsley!
20. Eat!