Cream of Asparagus and Mushroom Soup

Ingredients

• 3 slices bacon
• 0.25 cups 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 package sliced fresh mushrooms , 8 ounce
• 0.75 cups half-and-half cream

Instructions

1. 1

   Place bacon in a large, deep skillet and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain bacon on a paper towel-lined plate. Crumble bacon when cool; set aside. Reserve 1 tablespoon bacon drippings in a small bowl. Set aside the skillet.

2. 2

   Melt butter with drippings in a large saucepan over medium heat.

3. 3

   Cook and stir celery and onion in hot butter-drippings until onion is translucent, about 4 minutes. Whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add potato and asparagus, reserving asparagus tips for later. Season with salt and ground black pepper. Reduce heat and simmer soup for 20 minutes.

4. 4

   Pour soup into a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway. Holding down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get soup moving before leaving it on to purée. Purée in batches until smooth and pour into a clean pot. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and purée soup right in the cooking pot.

5. 5

   Cook and stir mushrooms and asparagus tips in the same skillet used for bacon until mushrooms release their liquid, 5 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and ground black pepper, if needed.

6. 6

   Stir mushrooms, asparagus tips, and half-and-half cream into puréed soup. Cook until thoroughly heated.

7. 7

   Portion soup into bowls and garnish with crumbled bacon.