Erica De Mane

Recipe below: Asparagus Soup with Dill and Ramps

Every spring I look forward to making smooth soups with whatever excellent green stuff shows up at the market. The other day I found asparagus, ramps, and dill, so I had a general idea what the result was going to be. The initially gave me pause, being an herb I don’t use much and definitely not a flavor from my Southern Italian childhood. But I like it from time to time, especially in a Greek spinach pie. It seems to work well with uniquely assertive green vegetables such as asparagus, and it also can act, as in this case, as a leveler to the garlicky oniony flavor of ramps.

I love just about all puréed green soups, hot or cold, but a depressing problem can arise with them. They often go olive green, or even gray. Sometimes it helps to preblanch and then cold shock the vegetables before you start in with the actual soup cooking. I’ve tried that with asparagus, but the bright color didn’t hold once the vegetable went tender. What I did do here was blanch the dill and the leafy ramp tops, locking in their color and adding them toward the end. That worked somewhat.

I didn’t add any cream to this soup. Instead I finished it off with a drizzle of good olive oil. I really like the flavor blend here. I ate it both hot and, the next day, cold. It was good both ways. If you can’t find ramps, try getting your hands on a few young spring scallions, and use the entire things. I’d say two or three would be about right for this.

Asparagus Soup with Dill and Ramps

(Serves 4)

6 or 7 ramps
About 6 big dill sprigs, plus a handful of sprigs for garnish
Salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 celery stalk, chopped, plus the leaves
1 baking potato, peeled and cut into cubes
A big bunch of local asparagus (about 1½ pounds), trimmed of its tough ends
¼ teaspoon fennel pollen
A few scrapings of fresh nutmeg
¼ cup dry vermouth
2 cups light chicken broth or vegetable broth
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Freshly ground black pepper
A few drops of rice wine vinegar

The first thing you’ll want to do is separate the white ramp bulbs from the leafy ramp tops. Slice the bulbs, and give the leaves a rough chop.

Set up a medium pot of water, and bring it to a boil. Add a little salt. Throw in the ramp tops and the dill (not the sprigs, to be used for garnish), and blanch for 30 seconds. Drain into a colander, and then run cold water over everything to set the color.

In a good-size soup pot, heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the ramp bulbs, the celery and its leaves, the potato, and the asparagus. Season with salt, the fennel pollen, and the nutmeg, and sauté until everything is well coated with oil and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Add the vermouth, and let it bubble for a few seconds. Add the chicken or vegetable broth and enough water to just cover the vegetables. Let cook, uncovered, at a low boil for about 5 minutes. Now add the blanched ramp tops and dill, and continue cooking until it’s all just tender, probably about another 8 minutes, adding additional water if needed. Turn off the heat, and let sit for about 10 minutes so all the flavors can blend.

Purée the soup in a food processor, and then return it to a clean pot. Add the butter, and season with black pepper and a little more salt, if needed. Taste to see if you might need a few drops of rice wine vinegar to bring up all the flavors (I did). Add additional water if needed to get a consistency you like. I like my greens soups a bit loose.

You can now reheat the soup and serve it hot, each bowl drizzled with good olive oil and finished with a scattering of fresh dill, or you can chill it and serve it cold. Both will be good.