This soup serves 4, with some left over for lunch. It takes about 30 minutes to prepare.

Ingredients: soup

• 2 cans of whole, tinned asparagus in water
• 1 bunch fresh asparagus, chopped, without tips (use tips in garnish, below)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 small potatoes, chopped
• 1 cup water
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• a handful of chopped garlic chives or regular chives

Ingredients: garnish

• 2 tblsp olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
• 2 slices day-old bread, grated
• chilli to taste
• a sprinkle of sugar
• slurp of tamari

How it's done

1. Prepare the soup: Empty two tins of asparagus in water into a medium pot. Add the extra water, stock cube, chopped onion, potatoes and fresh asparagus (minus tips) and bring to the boil with the lid on. Once boiled, turn the heat down to let the soup simmer, and prepare the garnish.
2. Prepare the garnish: Fry garlic until golden in olive oil with a little sea salt and a sprinkle of sugar. Add grated bread, and fry for a few minutes until the bread is crispy. Empty contents of pan into a bowl. Now, fry the aparagus tips, in the pan you just emptied, until they are bright green – you won't need any more oil. Put the garlic and breadcrumb mix back into the pan with the asparagus tips. Turn the heat off and add a slurp of tamari and a few chilli flakes.
3. Puree the soup: Use a stick or jug blender to puree the soup, then stir through the chopped garlic chives. If you think the soup's a little thick for pouring, thin it with some hot water. Add a little salt if you need to.
4. Serve it up: Place a small mound of garnish in the bottom of some pretty bowls. Ladle or pour (from a jug) soup into the bowl, around the garnish.