asparagus rice soup with cacio d’roma (minestra di asparagi e riso)
April 22, 2013 § 9 Comments
One of the many reasons to love April is the availability of large tender asparagus, a sure sign of spring. I pick up bushels of asparagus when it is in season. One of my favorite recipes is a quick steam and a drizzle of olive oil and salt for a simple side dish or tossed in a salad.
The weather in Seattle has been gray, rainy and cold now for several days. In weather like this I hunger for soup. Today I decided I would make soup with the asparagus I brought home. To give credit where it is due, I pulled an old italian vegetable recipe book off the shelf…
The asparagus-rice soup recipe I found in Verdura is remarkable. Simple and satisfying. It is a fresh springtime soup. The arborio rice adds a pleasant chewy texture and the cacio d’roma cheese, which melts into the soup gives the soup a satisfying creaminess.
I made a few minor modifications to the recipe. For one, the recipe called for a specific italian cheese, caciocavallo. Caciocavallo is delightfully formed in a ball between two cheese forms and bound together with a rope. You may find it in your specialty cheese market looking like a little teardrop hanging from a horizontal stick or branch. It’s flavor is similar to provolone cheese. Instead I chose cacio d’roma, another lovable southern italian cheese. It’s made of sheep’s milk. Quite mild in flavor, similar to Manchego, with a pliable texture instead of dry. It is considered a very good melting cheese, which is why I chose it for this soup.
asparagus rice soup with cacio d’roma
- 1 pound asparagus
- 8 cups water
- salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small sweet yellow onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped italian parsley
- 1/2 cup arborio rice
- 3 ounces cacio d’roma cheese, shredded
Snap off the tough ends of the asparagus. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the asparagus about halfway up the stalk. Cook the asparagus in 6 cups of salted boiling water. When the asparagus is tender but crisp, lift it out of the water. Reserve the water. Cut the asparagus into 1 inch pieces and set aside.
In a large heavy bottom soup pot, heat the olive oil on medium heat and sauté the onion, garlic and parsley for several minutes. Add the rice and coat well. Add the reserved asparagus water and bring to a boil. Cook until the rice is al dente, stirring often. Gently add the asparagus and allow it to warm. Turn the heat off and stir in the shredded cacio d’roma cheese. Serve right away!
Serves 4
buon appetite.
COTTAGE GROVE HOUSE 
Interesting thing – I live near Italy and I have to learn about their recipes from someone from US :D Regarding the list of ingredients must be super duper yummy! Thanks for sharing! Have a nice day ;)
That is interesting Irena. I’m sure you have countless italian recipes and influence in your dishes you are preparing.
One of my favorite foods are asparagus. I have wanted to cook your recipe
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Hi. Thank you for your follow! Asparagus is now in season over here in the Pacific Northwest. My favorite food too. I hope your prepare this soup. It is delicious.
This soup looks delicious. Since we have been experiencing cold weather in CO, I would love some soup! I love roasting my asparagus with oil, salt and pepper (similar to what you mentioned). It has so much flavor! :D
I know! It’s cold over here too. Doesn’t the idea of spring vegetables in a soup sound much needed? I think roasting the asparagus is so good. It’s actually “tastier” considering you don’t boil out the flavor. Thank you for your comment Lilly Sue.
You mentioned Seattle. We have opposite seasons but the weather right now is the same – rainy and cold. I’ll be attending the International Food Blogger Conference (IFBC 2013) in September. I hope to see you there if you will attend too.
Yes! Hopefully we can see each other there. My, you are traveling far!
I’ll be in the U.S. anyway to visit the boyfriend. Seattle is a three hour train ride from Portland.