To-die-for Asparagus Soup on a chilly, rainy day! Yummy!

Emeril’s recipe, roughly:

Cut tips off a couple bunches of asparagus and set aside. Boil woody ends of asparagus in 8 cups of chicken stock (or veggie stock for you veggie-type people) for 20 minutes.

While it’s boiling, in a large saucepan cook 1 cup diced shallots, 1 cup diced leeks (white part only), and the rest of asparagus (cut up) in 1/2 stick of butter until softened. (Don’t worry about the size of the dicing, you’re gonna blend it later.) Add 1 tablespoon of garlic, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper.

Remove woody ends from stock with slotted spoon and discard, then add shallot/leek/asparagus mixture to stock. Simmer 20 minutes.

To serve: Remove shallot/leek/asparagus with slotted spoon and blend in blender and then add back to stock, add 1/2 c heavy cream and asparagus tips, warm and serve. Top with Parmesan. (I was tempted to put some diced ham in this. Might be yummier, but I’d probably omit the salt.)