In the photo, the soup is shown with some asparagus fritters but it would also be excellent with a griddled slice of sourdough bread brushed with some good extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with some fleur de sel and dried oregano.
I drizzled the soup with some wild garlic oil and extra virgin olive oil but a parsley or chive oil would also suit.
For the fritters, it would be best to use thick asparagus as they are easier to grate.
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 250g asparagus, roughly chopped
- 1 medium size onion, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 300ml vegan stock
- 300ml coconut milk
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- 1 bay leaf
- Lemon juice to taste
For the wild garlic oil
- 250g wild garlic leaves
- 250ml rapeseed oil
For the asparagus fritters
- 150g asparagus, grated on the thick side of your grater
- 3 tbsp chickpea flour
- 3 tbsp coconut milk
- A pinch of each ground cumin and coriander
- 2 spring onions, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Method
For the wild garlic oil, wash the leaves well, drain and dry in a clean tea towel. Blitz with a pinch of salt and the oil to a very smooth puree. Put in a bowl and chill quickly over a bowl of icy water, so as to maintain the vibrant green colour. Strain through a muslin cloth and then a second time before transferring to a squeezy bottle. Use it to make mayonnaise to serve with prawns or other seafood or store in the freezer in little containers.
To make the fritters, preheat the oven to 1800C.
Put all the ingredients apart from the olive oil in a bowl, season with salt and pepper and mix well. Bring a frying pan to a medium heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is almost smoking, use two spoons to make the fritters and fry until golden on one side, then the other. Transfer to the oven and cook for a further 15 minutes.
For the soup, bring a pan with the oil to medium heat. Add the onion and sweat for 4-5 minutes. Add the spices and stir for a minute before adding the asparagus. Stir the asparagus for a couple of minutes and add the stock, coconut milk and bay leaf. Bring to the boil, lower the heat, cover the pan and cook for 30 minutes. Leave to cool, discard the bay leaf and blitz the soup in a blender.
Return to the pan, season with some sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and a drizzle of lemon juice, some micro cress and the fritters on the side.