Cream of Asparagus Soup

I was all set to post this Cream of Asparagus soup recipe last time and then goofed up a bit -- ended up with mismatched title and recipe as I posted the recipe for the Cream of Arugula soup with the title "Cream of Asparagus soup." Sorry for the confusion, I've gone back and fixed that error.

Same general procedure as for Cream of Arugula soup here - I do love my pressure cooker for making creamy soups, only no moong dal this time. I prefer the texture to be coarse and dense for the Cream of Arugula soup so I didn't strain it. But for this Cream of Asparagus soup, since I use the thicker parts of the stalk for cooking, I strain it to get the chewy bits out.

Asparagus is from a local farm and yet it is a bit pricey here, but it has been quite a hot Spring so far.

This recipe is quite close to the ever-popular Cream of Kohlrabi soup that comes about this time of the year.

Ingredients
1 lb asparagus, woody parts removed, chopped
3 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 medium onion, chopped
1 Tablespoon grated ginger
2 Serrano chilies, chopped coarsely
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup grated Colby jack cheese
½ cup crème fraîche or heavy cream
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Salt to taste

Preparation

1. Heat the olive oil in the pressure cooker pan, add the onions, ginger, chilies and saute with a pinch of salt till aromatic and onions turn translucent
2. Add the chopped asparagus and stock, cover and cook in the pressure cooker, reserving some tips for garnish
3. When safe to open the pressure cooker, puree with a hand blender till smooth; then strain to remove coarse, chewy fibrous bits
4. Simmer gently, stir in the cheeses to thicken, then the cream and turn off stove
5. Garnish with blanched asparagus tips and serve warm