Spinach Asparagus Soup

I was spending some time with Pete Holmes ('s podcast) again today, as I'm wont to do. He posited that a person only really has enough time or passion to spread to three main interests. I neither know where nor how he came up with this hypothesis, nor could I begin to debate its merits. But it did make me start thinking -- what are mine?

If I consider time, energy and money spent, I suppose they're words, food and comedy -- each with vastly different levels of skill and possible personal contribution.

Through my love of words from an early age, I started learning about foods I couldn't even conceive of. I still remember how I felt on the day in 1994 when I learned the word croquembouche. French. Noun. A cone-shaped stack of cream puffs coated with caramelized sugar.

Not only is that a cool-sounding word, but I had just discovered that I lived in a world where one could possibly, someday, unimaginably...eat from a cone-shaped stack of cream puffs coated with caramelized sugar. A ziggurat of pastry; a  tower of puffy, treacly delights. I could hardly believe my eyes, and I knew without a doubt that this was the best of all possible worlds.

To this day, I've never eaten croquembouche, which in most pictures I've seen looks more like a jumbled stack of Dunkin Donuts Munchkins than my childhood reveries would like to admit. But discoveries like that one in the addenda section of Webster's Third New International Dictionary started me down a path I hope to never stray from. One in which I'm always looking for the next thing to try, and laughing each time I fail. (See? I knew I could get back to comedy somehow (sort of).)

Oh, right. Soup.

Thankfully, this was not a failure, but it could have been. I was all by my lonesome tonight, so I decided to make a soup-for-one in the Vitamix. I had some nice asparagus and spinach, I thought -- hey! Perfecto! Donezo! So I blended it all up with some onion and garlic and herbs -- oh, it was beautiful to look at. Took a taste, and seriously? It wasn't bad, but it was almost too healthy. Like I was subjecting myself to a juice cleanse, except HOT. Nobody wants that! Especially not on a solo night when I can make something exactly to my tastes and not be judged. 

Potato to the rescue! (Seriously, I would wear a shirt that said that, with a cute little superpotato wearing a cape on it.) Adding a small russet potato mellowed the taste of the veg a bit, but really it was all about texture. Runny to creamy in one easy step! Not sure how I didn't think of it in the first place, but all's well that ends well. It was a lesson in improvisation: I tasted the first version and thought, "Yes, and."

It ended well, but not uhmaaaayyyzing. I licked my bowl, but that was at least partially because I was alone, and when else can you do something so uncouth?

Here's what was amazing though: Pecorino cream on top. From now on, I will be very surprised if I can resist the urge to put this on top of every veg-puree-type soup I make. I mean, zippadeedoodah! (Translation: salty-creamy-nutty-peppery.) It was just a small bit of cream, so it didn't mask the veg at all -- just made them ol' asparaguses sing (asparagi? nope.). And, folks -- I made it in the microwave (gasp!). All I did was stir up a splash of cream with about half as much grated Pecorino Romano and microwave 30 seconds. Stir in some freshly ground pepper, and voila: you just proved your love for yourself in 60 seconds or less. 

Don't it just look so refined? (Please say the previous aloud in a charming Southern accent while fanning yourself.)

In conclusion: Croquembouche, Pecorino cream, bowl-licking, treat yo self.


Vitamix Spinach Asparagus Soup
Serves 1

GET THIS STUFF

For the soup:
1 small russet potato, peeled and chopped
6 spears of asparagus in 2" pieces, woody ends discarded and tips reserved
1 big handful fresh baby spinach
1 teaspoon chopped red onion
1 roughly chopped garlic clove
1 teaspoon chopped fresno pepper
1 cup vegetable broth
1 pinch dried oregano
1 pinch dried tarragon
1 teaspoon grated Pecorino Romano

For the cream:
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons grated Pecorino Romano
1 pinch ground black pepper

DO THIS WITH IT

Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil and add potatoes; cook until tender (5 or 6 minutes), then transfer potatoes to blender using a slotted spoon.

Add all soup ingredients to blender, excepting the reserved asparagus tips. Blend on high for 7 or 8 minutes, or until steam comes out the top.

Meanwhile, place asparagus tips in the boiling water from the potatoes for about 60 seconds, or until bright green. Drain and run cold water over them.

Place cream and 1 1/2 teaspoons Pecorino Romano in a small microwave proof dish -- microwave on high for 30 seconds. Add black pepper and stir to combine.

Taste soup for seasoning, add salt and pepper to taste. Serve topped with cream and asparagus tips.