Creamed asparagus soup

Soup is a very healthy and versatile dish: warm and invigorating in winter, light and delicious in the summer, it is also very healthy because it is usually made with vegetables. It is good for children, who will especially love it if you make it with vegetables such as sweet potatoes or carrots. But the variations are boundless: beans, grains, chicken and so on and so forth. What we suggest today is a tribute to spring: creamed asparagus soup, delicious, delicate and perfect for the whole family, ideal combined with crunchy croutons. If you want to give your soup some additional velvety creaminess you can add a tablespoon of fresh cream, or you could just serve it straight, or you can even decide to "dress it" with a drizzle of olive oil, a teaspoon of grated cheese, freshly ground pepper, or even, for those who like strong flavours, a sprinkling of chilli.

Clean the asparagus by setting aside the woody ends. Cut off the asparagus tips and also keep aside. Coarsely chop together the asparagus stalks, onion and potato. Boil some water in a saucepan and cook the set aside asparagus. In a saucepan, sauté the asparagus, onion and potato mixture, adding a little cooking water from the boiled asparagus, which will help to give more colour and taste. Once cooked, drain the boiled asparagus and blitz them with an electric blender and then pass them through a sieve into the rest of the sauce being cooked. After about a further 15 minutes of cooking the asparagus, potato and onion mixture, blitz it all with an electric immersion blender. Add salt and sweeten to taste. Add the asparagus tips and cook for another 5 minutes. Finish the soup by adding cream and butter. Serve hot with croutons.