French chestnut soup

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5 from 1 vote

This lusciously smooth soup is easy to prepare and perfect as an appetizer to a festive meal, or lunch on a cold day.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Appetizer/Starter, Lunch

Cuisine: French

Servings: approx

Calories: 530kcal

Author: Caroline's Cooking

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Ingredients

½ onion or 2 shallots
1 tablespoon butter
1 lb roasted chestnuts
2 ½ cups chicken stock or more as needed
1 bay leaf
¼ teaspoon salt or more/less to taste
¼ teaspoon pepper or more/less to taste
¼ cup heavy cream double cream

For topping (optional)

3 roasted chestnuts either additional or set aside from above
1 tablespoon butter to toast chestnuts for topping, optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Dice the onion. Warm the butter in a medium pot/pan over a medium heat then add the onion once melted. Cook for a couple minutes to soften so the onion becomes translucent.
Set aside around 1 chestnut per person for the topping, if adding (or you can use additional, if you have them) and break into pieces.
Add the rest of the chestnuts to the onion, stir to coat with the butter and then add the stock, bay leaf, salt and pepper.
Cover the pot, bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to keep it at a simmer and cook for around 20 minutes to let the flavors mingle.
Meanwhile, warm the butter in a small skillet/frying pan over a medium heat and add the chestnut pieces. Cook, stirring now and then, to gently crisp and brown the chestnut pieces on each side.
Once the soup has cooked around 20 minutes, remove from the heat and blend until smooth (either use a stick/immersion blender or transfer to a blender). Add the cream and mix in so well mixed. If needed, thin out the soup with a little more stock if it seems too thick (though this is a reasonably thick soup). You can also adjust the seasoning a little to taste as well.
Serve the soup topped with some pieces of crisped chestnut. You can optionally use a little parsley or chives to garnish as well.

Video

Notes

As noted above, if you have fresh chestnuts then roast them using my how to roast chestnuts post as a guide, then peel and weigh (remember to roast extra as you will use lose around maybe ¼ of their weight from the skins). Alternatively, you can use ready-cooked chestnuts.

Nutrition