Crema di asparagi allo zafferano

When you see saffron, you know the dish is for a festive occasion. In fact, this is a Passover soup from the Veneto. You will notice that no onion is used. I find that onion masks the pure and delicate flavors of the asparagus. Although the soup is called a crema, you can omit the cream or milk at the end in favor of maintaining the pure asparagus flavor. Calabrian cooks omit the costly saffron in their asparagus and enrich the soup with beaten eggs and cheese and sometimes croutons.