Cream of Asparagus Soup

When I cook asparagus I always break the ends off at their natural break, so I end up with quite a pile of asparagus ends, usually about a pound.  I can't stand to throw them away so I use them up with this delicious recipe.

Recipe:

2 lbs asparagus ends
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
6 Tbs butter, divided
1 tsp sucanut
5 C chicken broth, divided
3 Tbs flour
1/4 tsp lemon juice
2 pinches of nutmeg

1/2 C heavy cream

Drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper

Melt 3 Tbs butter in sauce pan, add onion, garlic, sucanut and asparagus and saute until onion is tender. Add 3 C chicken broth. Cover and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes or so. Blend all in one or two batches on high until as smooth as possible. If you don't have a vita-mix or something similar you will need to strain the mixture through a mesh strainer (this takes some time to mash against the mesh to separate the stringy stuff). Melt 3 Tbs butter, add flour to make a roux. Whisk in remaining 2 C broth. Boil 1 minute. Add asparagus mixture, lemon juice, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Add cream and drizzle of olive oil and serve.  Makes about 6 C.