Recipe for Asparagus Soup Seasoned with Zatar

Ever heard of Zatar?  I've seen it mentioned in receipes but hadn't found where to buy it until I got the wonderful opportunity to stop by a Penzy's Spices retail store in Menlo Park, California during our recent trip to San Francisco.  I learned about Penzy's when a friend gave me a selection of Barbecue spices from them a few months ago.  I really like the spices and have gazed longingly at Penzy's wonderful selection of products online.  So when I found out there was a store in Menlo Park, I added it to our agenda.  Well, my agenda.   Mr. ELEB visited a running shoe store while I browsed and shopped to my heart's content.

From my shopping spree at Penzy's

I've been disappointed on several occasions when I had a recipe in mind or found someone else's good sounding recipe and couldn't find the spices I needed here (like ground ancho chili peppers, ajwain, or zatar).  It is one of the trade offs of living on Maui.  And I don't get the opportunity to see and try new "exotic" spices; they just aren't stocked here.


So, back to zatar.  According to Penzy's, zatar is traditionally used in Middle Eastern dishes.  It is a blend of crushed sumac, thyme, white sesame seeds and salt. I bought it to try Penzy's suggestion of pita sprinkled with olive oil and zatar but I was making asparagus soup from some left over stem bottoms (see previous post about this) and given the tantalizing smell of zatar (sort of lemony-sesame-earthy), I thought it would go well with the asparagus.


Yield: 2 servings
Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:

2 cups of chopped asparagus stems, woody parts trimmed off

3 cups of vegetable broth

1 TBSP chopped fresh mint, plus leaves for serving

1 TBSP zatar

Plain non-fat Greek yogurt for serving

1 TBSP toasted pine nuts for serving

Salt and pepper, if needed for serving

Method:

• Simmer asparagus, broth, mint, and zatar over medium heat for 20 minutes or until asparagus is tender.
• Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes.
• Using immersion blender, process until smooth. 
• Taste for seasonings and adjust as needed.
• Serve topped with a dollop of yogurt, mint leaves, and toasted pine nuts.

Printable recipe

Another soup winner!  Let me know in the comment section if you have any good ideas for zatar.