Cream of Asparagus and Mushroom Soup Cream of Asparagus and Mushroom Soup - 3 slices bacon
- 1 tablespoon bacon drippings
- 1/4 cup butter
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1 potato, peeled and diced
- 1 pound fresh asparagus, tips set aside and stalks chopped
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 (8 ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms
- 3/4 cup half-and-half cream
- 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.
- Melt butter with drippings in a saucepan over medium heat.
- Cook and stir celery and onion in the saucepan until onion is translucent, about 4 minutes.
- Whisk flour into the mixture and cook for 1 minute.
- Whisk in chicken broth and bring to a boil.
- Add potato and chopped asparagus stalks, reserving the asparagus tips for later. Season with salt and ground black pepper.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
- 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.
- 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.
- Stir mushrooms, asparagus tips, and half-and-half cream to pureed soup. Cook until thoroughly heated.
- Garnish soup with crumbled bacon.
