Roasted Chestnut Soup with Wild Mushrooms
This rich, flavorful roasted chestnut soup recipe has a slightly nutty taste and a soft, creamy texture.
By Yankee Magazine|Oct 26 2017|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine KeenanThis rich, flavorful roasted chestnut soup recipe has a slightly nutty taste and a soft, creamy texture. Note that you may use store-bought, pre-roasted chestnuts, which come vacuum-packed in jars. However, in our testing, we found that freshly roasted chestnuts tasted best.
Don’t know how to roast chestnuts? It’s easy. To roast chestnuts, cut an x through the flat bottom of each nut (this helps with peeling later). Toss chestnuts with salt, pepper, and 1/3 cup canola oil. Spread chestnuts on a baking sheet and roast at 425° until tender, about 25—35 minutes. Return chestnuts to the bowl, toss, and cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Cool; then peel.
Yield:
6 servingsIngredients
3 cups roasted, peeled chestnuts, divided
4 tablespoons salted butter, divided
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 carrot, peeled and diced
10 sprigs fresh thyme, chopped
4-1/2 cups chicken stock
1-1/2 cups heavy or light cream
Kosher or sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup fresh (or reconstituted dried) wild mushrooms, such as porcini, black trumpet, or chanterelle
Instructions
Chop chestnuts and set aside.
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and carrot and cook until tender, 8—10 minutes.
Add thyme and stir briefly.
Add chicken stock, heavy cream, and 2-1/2 cups chopped chestnuts. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Then simmer 20—25 minutes.
Puree in batches in a blender until smooth. Adjust seasoning to taste if necessary.
While soup is simmering, sauté mushrooms in 2 tablespoons butter over high heat, until slightly crispy but still tender, 8-10 minutes. Set aside.
Pour soup into bowls. Garnish with the remaining chestnuts and mushrooms. Serve hot.
This soup was absolutely fantastic. Veg stock was used in lieu of chicken stock. Would recommend it to anyone looking for a good fall/winter soup.
Roasting the chestnut was the biggest, most difficult part. Those shells are brutal! But worth it!
I made this last year for Thanksgiving and planning on making it for Wednesday evenings supper. Wonderful taste and texture. I found canned chestnuts (packed in water not syrup!) at Wild Oats Market in Portland for 99 cents. Saves time roasting and peeling.
The addition of a splash of sherry improves this already wonderful soup. I made it with leeks and turkey stock, after Thanksgiving. Delicious.
Got dry chestnuts in a package from amazon for chestnut stuffing
In February, I found frozen chestnut meats from our bumper crop last year. Tried this soup again, but added mushrooms to the soup as well as sherry. It is a delicious recipe. Note to Thai food lovers, made this soup with a can of coconut milk as well as cream. Decadent! Appropriate spices for Thai, bit of red curry sauce and splash of fish sauce. Very adaptable recipe. Wonderful !