Asparagus Soup with Herbed Goat Cheese

½ cup (4 oz) goat cheese. Room temperature
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp chopped basil leaves
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Cooking spray
2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large leek, white and pale green parts only, thinly sliced
4 cups low-sodium veg broth
2 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces

1 Line a small baking sheet with parchment. Using a fork combine goat cheese and 2 tbsp basil. Season with ½ tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Grease a 1/2-oz cookie scoop or a round tablespoon measure with Cooking spray. Scoop goat cheese mixture into balls and place on prepared baking sheet. Refrigerate while you make the soup.

2 In a Dutch Oven or large saucepan, heat butter Over medium heat. Add leek and cook, stirring constantly until softened, 3 to 4min. Add broth, asparagus, remaining 1/2 cup basil, 1/2 tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat so that the mixture simmers and cook until asparagus is tender, about 15 min.

3 Blend soup in two batches until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into shallow bowls and garnish with herbed goat cheese.


Serving Size: 4 servings

Number of Servings: 4

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user IRISHVEG1.