Cream of Asparagus and Mushroom Soup

I was on a work trip in Oklahoma City several years ago and had a delicious bowl of cream of asparagus soup at a cute cafe, and I spent a year trying to recreate my own version of this heart-warming soup. With the collaboration of my family’s ideas, I have come up with a version of soup that I serve for our formal holiday meals as a starter course.

Step: 1

Place the bacon in a large, deep skillet, and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain the bacon slices on a paper towel-lined plate. Crumble bacon when cool; set aside. Reserve 1 tablespoon of bacon drippings.

Step: 2

Melt butter with drippings in a saucepan over medium heat.

Step: 3

Cook and stir celery and onion in the saucepan until onion is translucent, about 4 minutes.

Step: 4

Whisk flour into the mixture and cook for 1 minute.

Step: 5

Whisk in chicken broth and bring to a boil.

Step: 6

Add potato and chopped asparagus stalks, reserving the asparagus tips for later. Season with salt and ground black pepper.

Step: 7

Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Step: 8

Pour the soup into a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth and pour into a clean pot. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the soup right in the cooking pot.

Step: 9

Cook and stir mushrooms and asparagus tips in the same skillet used for bacon until mushrooms give up their liquid, 5 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and ground black pepper, if needed.

Step: 10

Stir mushrooms, asparagus tips, and half-and-half cream to pureed soup. Cook until thoroughly heated.

Step: 11

Garnish soup with crumbled bacon.

Per Serving: 155 calories; protein 5.2g; carbohydrates 12.7g; fat 10g; cholesterol 27.4mg; sodium 144.9mg.