Chestnut Soup with Shiitake and cream

Chestnut Soup with Shiitake and cream

This extraordinary soup is warm and comforting on a chilly autumn or winter evening. It makes a very elegant starter. And, it’s simple to make.

If you use packaged, pre-roasted chestnuts it’s even easier. 

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups cooked chestnuts

  • 4 tablespoons butter (divided use)

  • 1 medium onion, diced

  • 4 large cloves garlic, minced (divided use)

  • 6 ounces thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms

  • 1/4 cup mushroom powder (dried mushrooms, any type, ground in a spice grinder)

  • 4 cups stock (chicken or no-chicken)

  • 1 tablespoon sherry

  • 1 cup heavy cream, or ½ cup cream, 1/2 cup half and half

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

  • kosher salt and pepper to taste

  • truffle oil, to swirl over each bowl

  • finely chopped flat leaf parsley, for garnish

Method:

  • Melt the 2 tablespoons of the butter in a skillet and sauté the sliced mushrooms until they're beginning to pick up color, then add 2 cloves of the garlic and sauté another minute. Set them aside.

  • Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large soup pot. Add the diced onion and cook until it's soft and translucent. Then add the remaining garlic and cook another minute.

  • Add the chestnuts, raise the heat, and cook, stirring, until chestnuts are golden.

  • Deglaze the pot with the sherry and cook, stirring, until the sherry is mostly absorbed.

  • Stir in the stock with the mushroom powder, half the sautéed shiitakes, and the cardamom, then lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the chestnuts are very tender.

  • Purée the soup with an immersion blender, or use a food processor—process until smooth, then return the soup to the pot.

  • Add the half and half and the remaining mushrooms to the soup and cook, stirring, until hot.

  • Ladle into bowls and top each one with a swirl of truffle oil and a sprinkle of parsley.

Did you make it? Was it fabulous?