Asparagus End Soup - How to Not Waste Asparagus Ends

Whenever I'm roasting asparagus, I always use the snap method to get the proper amount off the spear. My problem with this is how much waste I produce with the ends. I save all my scraps from veggies for stock making, but asparagus doesn't add much flavour to stocks so I'd been saving asparagus ends in a ziploc bag in my freezer for months. Cue asparagus end soup.

When I was a teenager, I got annoyed with throwing out pea pods when we bought fresh peas at the market. I made a pea pod soup - and although I used a crappy blender to try and mix everything, it was tasty but also a bit pulpy. Using a high powered blender is the best way to make a soup out of anything and being sure it will have a great texture. As a lot of you know, I've been loving my new Vitamix and finding ways to incorporate tons of recipes into it - mostly to justify the price of it.

Jump to:

• Ingredients for Asparagus End Soup
• Ingredient Substitutions for Asparagus End Soup
• Asparagus End Soup Instructions
• Asparagus End Soup
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Ingredients for Asparagus End Soup

All the ingredients in this dish are naturally vegan and gluten-free. Asparagus end soup is an incredible way to load up on tons of fresh vegetables in a delicious way. The ingredients are:

• Asparagus ends and/or Asparagus
• Leeks
• Shallot
• Garlic
• Spinach or Mixed Greens
• White Wine
• Vegetable Broth
• Hemp, Flax (or Oats)
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• (Optional) Yogurt/Cream to serve

Ingredient Substitutions for Asparagus End Soup

Fun fact! My household is currently doing a pantry challenge. I'm always very aware of ingredient substitutions and knowing what is replaceable and what isn't. Because of the pantry challenge, I'm hyper aware of how I can make readers feel more comfortable to play with my recipes in ways that they can manage with what they already have.

Some ingredients I wouldn't recommend swapping out are the leek and asparagus. With that being said, you can use any combination of asparagus ends and asparagus. You can see in my mise en place above that I have a few asparagus spears as well as the ends - this isn't mandatory, I just didn't have enough ends and didn't want to waste the few spears I had. Obviously this soup also works with 100% asparagus if you don't have a reserve of asparagus ends at home.

Shallots and garlic are interchangeable to a certain extent with white or yellow onions. Try and keep the weight or measurements close to the same, and if you skip on shallots for all garlic, know that shallots aren't as potent so you may have a stronger garlic taste. The same applies if you skip on shallots for onions - you'll have a stronger onion taste.

For white wine, you can use apple cider vinegar in equal ratios. Personally, I actually ran out of white wine and I used the same measurement of half water and half white wine vinegar. It's best if you use white wine, but it's mostly for an acidic kick.

For stock or broth, you can use any kind you have available. I used homemade chicken stock because it's what I had on hand. It's preferable to use homemade stock, but if you're using store bought try and get a high quality and/or organic broth or stock.

Hemp hearts aren't mandatory, but they add a nice body to the soup. You can use oats instead if you don't have hemp hearts on hand.

For the oil, you can use any oil or fat on hand. If you aren't vegan, bacon fat adds an amazing depth to the soup. Also, if you're just vegetarian and not vegan, ghee is a great alternative as well.

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Asparagus End Soup Instructions

After preparing your mise en place, the actual work that goes into Asparagus End Soup is pretty minimal. First, you'll sauté your aromatics (leeks, shallots, garlic) and then deglaze with wine. Add in the hemp hearts and broth and simmer. After a few minutes, add in the asparagus and simmer. Finally, add in the greens and simmer until wilted. After all ingredients are cooked fully, let the mixture cool to 170 degrees and place in a blender and blend until combined.

If you're using an immersion blender, you don't need to let the mixture cool. The max temperature for my blender (the Vitamix 5200) is 170 degrees - though your personal blender may be different due to different materials. Always check your owner's manual before placing hot liquids into your blender. Make sure to leave enough headspace that there's at least a centimetre between the top of the soup and the max fill line. It's okay to blend in batches - just combine each batch together after blending to ensure even flavour distribution.

You can add salt and pepper throughout the cooking process, but I recommend leaving most of it to post-blending to ensure you're getting a full idea of the flavour before over-salting.

Looking for a vegan main dish to bulk up this meal? Check out my Vegan Baked Mac and Cheese.

Another fun fact - this recipe is part of my most recent meal planning guide.

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