Asparagus Orzo Soup

Submitted by Malriah

"A delicious spring-time soup to help chase away the winter doldrums."

 

• Ready In: 35mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Serves: 4-8

ingredients

• 1 lb asparagus spear
• 1⁄2 cup chopped onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1⁄2 cup dried orzo pasta or 1/2 cup other tiny pasta
• 3 cups snow pea pods, ends and strings removed
• 6 cups torn fresh spinach
• 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper
• 1⁄4 cup pesto sauce (optional)
• 1⁄4 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese

directions

1. Snap off and discard woody bases from asparagus.
2. Bias-slice asparagus into 1-inch-long pieces.
3. Set aside.
4. In a 4-quart Dutch oven cook onion and garlic in hot oil until tender.
5. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.
6. Stir in pasta; reduce heat and boil gently for 5 minutes.
7. Stir in asparagus and snow peas.
8. Return soup to boiling and cook 3 minutes more.
9. Stir in spinach and pepper; cook 1 minute more.
10. Remove soup from heat.
11. Ladle soup into bowls.
12. If desired, swirl 1 to 2 teaspoons pesto into each bowl of soup.
13. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top of each serving.

Reviews

[Folk Dancer]

Very nice soup. I made it with purple asparagus (since it was available and I've never had it before), and really liked the flavor. The soup is easy to make, (cleaning the spinach is by far the most difficult part), so the next time I'll use packaged, pre-washed spinach.

 

[pierccat]

Great soup! I exchanged the chicken broth for veggie broth and it became a great vegetarian/vegan dish! Prep time was much greater than ten minutes (closer to 30 minutes for me to prep and cut all the ingredients, but I also doubled the recipe); the result was worth the additional time.

 

[tbehrend]

We loved it! Bro-in-law made it for Easter dinner appetizer.

 

[WildLightning]

This soup was an instant hit. Even my 13 month old son liked it; he had two bowls and kept signing "more!". I added some cooked chicken, because my husband likes a lot of protein in his food, and used homemade turkey broth instead of the canned. I also mixed the pesto right into the soup on the stovetop, and added a tad of salt. It was sooooo good! I like it because it was filling but not heavy, and a nice change from my usual chicken and barley soups. I didn't have any pasta, but I'm sure they would have been great in there!

 

[Sparklebaby]

My husband stated it was one of his favourite. Just loved the orzo. Didn't have pea pods to put in frozen green peas. The pesto really makes the soup