A very grown up soup

I made pistachio & asparagus soup last week, as a practice run for a wintery weekend away. My bloke was the taste tester, and his response was very positive – followed by the comment – “it’s a very grown up soup”. And he’s right. It’s a smooth, sexy, sophisticated soup that just oozes winter lunch or dinner entree.

The finished soup.

Now that’s a fire.

Wine can enhance the soup experience.

A sexy painting (taken in the very sexy ladies loos at Hugo’s Lounge).

Recipe

This is a recipe I’ve been making for years and years, and I think came (again) from one of my sister-in-law gourmets. The flavours are subtle, and there’s an addictive quality to it. It takes about 15 – 20 minutes to prepare – if that. The slowest part is taking the pistachios out of their shells. These quantities serve between 2 – 4 adults – depending on whether you have it as an entree or main.

I’ve always made this soup with tinned asparagus – never with fresh. I’m not sure why – as normally fresh produce will win over every time.  Maybe it’s because tinned asparagus is quite soft and smooth, which suits this soup. But try it with fresh if you prefer. I’ve also never tried it with kids – it’s green so may be challenging.

Ingredients

2 tins asparagus (I used 2 x 425gm tins)
1/2 – 1 cup shelled pistachio nuts
1 brown onion
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 litre chicken stock (Massel brand)
Sour cream or natural yoghurt to serve
Optional – chives to serve
Tablespoon or so of olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

What to do

The prep: Get the pistachio shelling underway. Then chop them up finely (either chop by hand or food processor). Set aside. Peel and chop up the onion finely as well.

The work: Heat the olive oil in a biggish saucepan. Cook the onion for a few minutes until it’s soft. Then add the pistachio nuts, cumin and some freshly ground black pepper. Give it a good stir and cook for a few minutes – taking care not to burn the mixture. Pour the chicken stock in and stir until well combined. If you’re using tinned asparagus, drain most of the liquid out (save a little) and add the asparagus and remaining liquid to the soup. Bring it up to the boil, then reduce the heat down and simmer for 10 – 15 minutes. After cooking, take it off the heat and cool it down a little. Then get your blender or hand held blender thing out, and puree away until the consistency is nice and smooth. I like to still have a few pistachio lumps in mine – so I don’t blend for too long.

The eating: Serve it up with a blob of sour cream or yoghurt, add a few cut chives and some pepper. I find this soup quite salty already, so don’t tend to add much salt.