Simple Spring Soup

I've been waiting patiently for the season to move along and bring some exciting local veggies, but pickin's are still pretty slim. Regardless, I did end up with more than a bunch of asparagus earlier this week (most of it was from upstate), so I decided to wing a puréed asparagus soup experiment that turned out pretty well.

While I've been tweaking things each time I have a serving, the base recipe was pretty easy: Heat 6 cups of stock. Cook asparagus in the stock for about 7 to 10 minutes. Purée and stir in two heaping tablespoons of ramp purée along with some milk, juice of half a large lemon, salt, and pepper. That "base" definitely needs something else, so at the very least, serve with freshly-grated Parmesan cheese and croutons. I've also thrown in some shredded chicken, some spiced beef, or just a little hot chili oil. Turns out asparagus soup can be extraordinarily flexible!