Chestnut Soup
Cooked chestnuts simmered with softened onion and stock, blended until silky and finished with a swirl of cream. Gently sweet, nutty, and warming. This is the soup French families make all autumn and winter, and a classic Christmas starter!
Ingredients
- 25 gr unsalted butter
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 400 gr chestnuts cooked or roasted
- 750 ml vegetable stock
- 100 ml Double cream
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 pinch black pepper freshly ground
Instructions
1. Soften the onion
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook gently for 5 minutes, stirring, until soft and translucent but not coloured.
2. Add the chestnuts and stock
- Set aside 3 or 4 chestnuts for serving. Add the rest to the pan, pour in the hot stock and bring to the boil.
3. Simmer
- Lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, until the chestnuts are very soft and break up easily with a spoon.
4. Blend
- Take the pan off the heat and blend with a stick blender until completely smooth.
5. Finish and serve
- Stir in the cream and season with salt and pepper. If the soup is too thick, add a little hot stock or water. Serve topped with the reserved chestnuts, crumbled, and the chives.
Notes
- Chestnuts thicken the soup a lot, so adjust the consistency at the end.
- Frozen cooked chestnuts work too. Just simmer them a little longer.
- Keeps 3 days in the fridge, or 3 months in the freezer without the cream.