Asparagus cream soup with fried mushrooms and ham cubes

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 750 g asparagus
• 1 liter chicken broth
• 30 g butter
• 40 g flour
• 60 ml white port wine
• 100 ml cream
• 2 egg yolks
• 200 g mushrooms
• olive oil
• 50 g ham, diced, lean
• nutmeg
• Salt
• 1 tsp curry
• Cayenne pepper
• Sugar
• 40 pistachios

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 30 minutes

Peel the asparagus and cut the stalks into diamond shapes. Place the pieces in a saucepan, cover with stock, and simmer for 5 minutes until tender. Bring the peels to a boil in the remaining stock and let them simmer gently for about 20 minutes. Strain both through a fine sieve and collect the stock. Skim off a cupful, set aside, and let it cool. Set the asparagus pieces aside, discarding the peels. Melt the butter in a saucepan and sweat the flour while stirring. Gradually add the stock, stirring constantly, bring to a boil, and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Mix the egg yolks and cream in the skimmed, cooled stock and stir into the soup along with the port wine. Add the asparagus pieces, return the soup to the heat, but do not let it boil. Season to taste with nutmeg, salt, curry powder, cayenne pepper, and a little sugar, if desired. Meanwhile, shell the pistachios and finely chop them with a knife. Finely dice the mushrooms, leaving the gills intact. Heat a little olive oil in a pan, briefly fry the ham cubes, add the mushrooms, and cook everything for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Add a little salt if desired, but be careful, the ham already contains salt. You can either stir them into the finished soup or add them to bowls or cups when serving. The ham cubes don’t necessarily need to be fried; they’re delicious just the way they are. Finally, sprinkle the chopped pistachios over the soup.