Pickled Asparagus Vichyssoise

other recipes

Late Summer

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60 mins + chill time

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serves 4

Vichyssoise is a chilled leek and potato soup. Invented by French Chef, Louis Diat, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel sometime in the 19th century, Vichyssoise is a great example of the ‘french-ness’ of French cuisine. You’ll often find elaborate recipes that go through lots of work to achieve an extremely smooth texture. While there’s a time and place for all that, when we’re at home cooking for ourselves, it usually isn’t that time. Instead, we often opt for the simpler process that generates less waste, uses less dishes and yields a product that is just as enjoyable (mostly thanks to the veggies themselves being delicious). We like to call it rustic.

Ingredients

from your CSA Club Share

from your pantry

  • Oil – 2 Tbsp
  • Garlic – 2 cloves
  • Whole Milk – ¾ cup
  • Heavy Cream (sub. Whole milk) – ½ cup
  • Salt
  • Pepper

larder items

tools

  • Stick blender or other blender
  • Mesh strainer

Directions

mise

  1. Thinly slice leek and set aside. Mince garlic and set aside with leek.
  2. Roughly chop potatoes into ~½ in. pieces and set aside.
  3. Remove the tips from the asparagus stalks, and break into small pretty looking pieces. Set aside for garnish. 
  4. Rough chop the remaining asparagus and set aside.

cook

  1. In a large pot over medium low heat, add the oil, the leek+garlic, and a pinch of salt. Sweat until translucent but don’t brown, ~5 min.
  2. Once the leek is soft, add the potato and pea shell stock. Increase the heat and bring to a boil. Then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook until potatoes are fork tender, ~ 10 mins.
  3. When potatoes are cooked, kill the heat and add the asparagus, milk, cream and asparagus pickle liquid.
  4. Either with a stick blender in the pot, or working in batches in a blender, blend the soup until smooth. If you desire an even smoother texture, push through a mesh strainer (When I say “push”, actually push as much of the potato through the strainer as you can. I find a spatula or large spoon the best tool for this).
  5. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If you’re impatient like we were, you can serve still hot. Otherwise, chill completely, either in an ice bath or in the refrigerator at least 4 hrs, but best overnight.

plate

Ladle the soup into a bowl and garnish with reserved pickled asparagus tips and a pinch of sweet paprika. Enjoy.