The British asparagus season is in full swing, but hurry – there are only six weeks left until it’s off the shelves, says Keeley Bolger. Here is an easy to do recipie featuring asparagus from asparagus.co.uk

Serves four

Ingredients:

12 asparagus spears

1tsp olive oil

50g unsalted butter

4 medium British shallots, diced

1 clove of garlic, crushed

800ml vegetable stock

200g fresh watercress

Salt and pepper

1tbsp freshly chopped chives

4tbsp creme fraiche

Method:

Prepare the asparagus by removing as little as possible at the base of the stems. Chop the tips off four of the asparagus spears and set them aside for garnishing the soup. Finely chop the rest of the spears.

Place a saucepan on the heat, add the olive oil and butter, then the diced shallots and garlic.

Sweat for five minutes on a low heat.

Add the chopped asparagus and continue to sweat for another couple of minutes. Then add the vegetable stock, bring to the boil and simmer for eight to ten minutes.

Add your watercress to the soup and simmer for two minutes then remove from the heat, put into a blender and blitz in batches. The watercress always goes in last to make sure it retains that lovely green colour.

Once the soup’s blended, put it through a sieve to remove any lumps. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, pour your soup into the bowl and place a spoonful of the creme fraiche on top. Sprinkle over your chopped chives and place the asparagus tips on top of the creme fraiche.