This Creamy Chestnut Soup is a festive and comforting dish that would be so great for your Christmas celebrations.
Creamy Chestnut Soup
Hello, everyone. As you might have noticed (And I also announced that on many occasions) that I’ve been enjoying chestnuts a lot this season. Perhaps, my relationship with lavender was just a temporary thing, and now I’ve found my real passion. Hopefully, that’s not the case (I know so many of you will be devastated if I gave up on lavender!), and I’ll reunite with lavender next year.
This Creamy Chestnut Soup is amazing! I am not exaggerating. Andrey was the main indicating factor here. Normally, he prefers to stay away from chestnuts (He did love this flatbread, though), but he liked this soup even more. Indeed, he is not a huge fan of creamy soup either, so watching him enjoy this creation was the second solid reason to believe it turned out well.
I was going to use fresh chestnuts first. However, when I saw the price was over 8$ for a pound (And I certainly needed more than a pound), my enthusiasm disappeared. Then I founded cooked chestnuts for only 1.15$ for 100 grams. Do the math! Besides, they were already peeled and cooked, and if you ever cooked chestnuts, you know that the peeling process takes quite a lot of time. Win-win!
Certainly, chestnuts from the package are not that aromatic that freshly roasted – we can all agree here. That’s why I decided to enhance their flavour (As well as the colour) by making some festive topping and incorporating potatoes. In fact, there are no potatoes in the soup even though I intended to use them. I boiled a couple of potatoes, but since I wasn’t sure how the soup would taste, I first tried making a small batch by combining one potato with a package of chestnuts. The flavor was here, but I didn’t like the texture. It was kind of gluey. Have you ever tried making potato mash in a processor or blender (Hint: don’t)? That’s not the best way to treat starchy ingredients such as potatoes.
Anyway, I decided to use the water in which I cooked the potatoes with the chestnuts. That was so much better! I also recently saw a trick by Gordon Ramsay when he added some butter in the blender while pureeing the soup for a smooth and luxurious texture, and I did like it.
This Creamy Chestnut Soup is warming and silky which is infused with nutmeg and sage and topped with bright pomegranate kernels, that’s a perfect appetizer or light meal for your festive Christmas celebrations.
See you soon.
Cheers.
Ingredients
- 3 medium potatoes, peeled
- 600 gr. cooked and peeled chestnuts (from the package)
- 4 tbsp. butter, divided
- 1/2 tsp.smoked paprika
- a pinch of dried sage
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
- pinch of salt and black pepper
- 150 low fat bacon, chopped
- 100-150 gr cooked chestnuts
- pomegranate seeds, to garnish
- fresh thyme, to garnish
Instructions
- Boil the potatoes in 6 cups of water until fully cooked.
- In a pan, cook 600 gr. chestnuts with 1 tbsp. of butter, paprika, and dry sage. Off heat and cool slightly.
- Puree with 4-6 (Start with 4 adding more as desired) cups of the potato water and the remaining butter in a processor.
- Return to a pot and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
- In a pan cook the bacon with 100-150 gr. chestnuts, 3-5 min.
- Serve soup topped with the bacon, chestnuts, pomegranate, and thyme.
- Enjoy!
Hi – I’m Ben, a blogger, recipe developer, and food photographer. I’m glad you’re here! I hope you will enjoy hundreds of delicious recipes and a pinch of havoc in the kitchen.
To say I want a big bowl of this soup right now (even given the fact that it’s Summer here right now) is a huuuuuge understatement. I love the sound of this soup and all it’s comforting flavours. That butter trick when blending is great.
Hi, Ben! I have to admit, I’ve never even tried chestnuts, but this soup is beautiful! I love your garnishes! But the soup looks so cozy and sounds like it’s amazing! I may have to give it a try! Thanks for the inspiration!
I had no idea you could make soup out of chestnuts! What a cool idea…and it’s perfect for the holidays, too. The seasonings in this soup sound perfect, and I like the idea of buying cooked chestnuts. Saves time and money! Really fun idea here, Ben! (Also, I’m ok if the lavender obsession turns into a chestnut obsession…just sayin’)
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I love the idea of pureeing the soup with a little butter! As if I needed a new reason to enjoy soup this time of year :). I’d love a big bowl of this for breakfast today because I’m really cold right now and my tea just isn’t quite enough. Have a great week, Ben!