Chestnut soup with roasted chestnuts, fennel, onions, apples, celery and a dollop of sour cream.
Years ago, an aikido friend of mine and I traveled to Shikoku, a southern island of Japan.
One day, while taking a brisk walk, we discovered the path covered with chestnut trees. We gathered a bunch and brought them back to where we were staying.
I bet you can guess what happened next?
A few minutes into our little experiment, the chestnuts started exploding like popcorn all over the kitchen.
It was all we could do to avoid being hit by those red-hot, golf-ball-sized projectiles.
Who knew you had to hit the grenades first? Even so, after the mess, I still remember how good those chestnuts were.
American chestnut trees once filled our eastern woods but were nearly wiped out by blight in the early 1900s. Today, most of the sweet chestnuts we buy come from Europe, although there are organizations like the American Chestnut Foundation working to breed rot-resistant chestnut trees.
So to this chestnut soup.
My first introduction to chestnut soup came from Dorie Greenspan in her cookbook Around My French Table. Have you ever tried chestnut soup? It’s totally delicious.
I’ve seen chestnut soups with apples, pears, mushrooms; all pair well with this sweet, earthy nut. For this soup, I decided to combine the chestnuts with fennel, whose natural sweetness and aniseed note harmonize beautifully with the chestnuts.
I’ve found that when cooking with chestnuts, already prepared (jarred or packaged) chestnuts work best due to the consistency of texture and flavor.
However, packaged roasted chestnuts can be difficult to find. I searched 3 stores before I found some jars. However, they can be found online, and you can always roast the chestnuts yourself (remember to score them first!)
Chestnut and fennel soup
The recipe works best with packaged cooked chestnuts. However, if these are not available, you can easily prepare chestnuts from scratch if you wish. Cut a cross into the skins, about 1/8 inch deep and wide enough to go to the edges of one side of the chestnut (to allow steam to escape), place cut-side up on a baking sheet and roast at 350°F for 30-35 minutes. Let cool until cool enough to touch but still warm and peel off the skins. This soup tends to thicken over time, so thin with water as needed.
ingredients
-
4 tablespoon butter
-
1 Cup chopped onion (1 medium onion)
-
1 Cup chopped celery (about 2 large ribs)
-
4 cups chopped fennel (about 2 large onions)
-
Salt
-
pepper
-
2 good cooking apples (Fuji, Jonagold, Jonathan, Golden Delicious or Braeburn would be good, DO NOT use Red Delicious), peeled, seeded and chopped
-
2 to 3 branches fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
-
fifteen until 16 ounces peeled off roasted chestnuts (preferably in a jar), chopped (do not use water chestnuts)
-
4 cups chicken broth (Low Sodium)
-
3 cups water
-
1 to 2 tablespoon Pernod or Ricard Pastis (Optional)
-
2 to 3 tablespoon sour cream (more or less to taste)
-
branches fennel frondsfor garnish
method
-
Cooking onion, celery and fennel:
Melt the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan (6 to 8 liters) over medium-high heat. Stir in the chopped onion, celery, and fennel. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until onions are translucent and fennel and celery are soft, about 10 minutes.
-
Add chestnuts, apples, thyme and liquids:
Stir in the chopped roasted chestnuts, chopped apples, and thyme. Add chicken broth and water. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes.
-
Puree soup:
Blend in batches in a blender or food processor until smooth. Remember not to fill the blender bowl more than half full and keep your hand on the top of the blender lid, otherwise the pressure of blending the hot liquid can cause the soup to splatter everywhere.
-
Adjust the seasonings, add Pernod and/or sour cream:
If it’s too thick, add more water to thin it down to your desired consistency. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. Stir in the Pernod or Pastis (or other anise-flavored liqueur) if using.
Either stir in sour cream or thin the sour cream and drizzle over the bowls when serving.
Serve hot, garnished with fennel leaves.
Links:
Chestnut and mushroom soup from a communal table
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 259 | calories |
| 8g | Fat |
| 45g | carbohydrates |
| 5g | protein |
