chestnut soup

zuppa di castagne

TOTAL TIME: 50 minutes

MAKES: 4 servings

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Ingredients

6¼ cups water
1 large leek, halved lengthwise and rinsed well
1 medium onion, quartered
2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
1 medium carrot, roughly chopped
2 cups roasted, shelled and skinned chestnuts (1 pound in shell or about 1½ (7½-ounce) jars peeled whole)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 (½-inch-thick) slices rustic Italian bread, crusts discarded, cut into ¼-inch cubes

Instructions

Combine water, leek, onion, celery and carrot in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook for 35 minutes. Add chestnuts and cook until chestnuts are tender, about 25 minutes more. Remove from heat.

Using tongs, remove vegetables from broth and discard. Remove 4 chestnuts and set aside.

Purée soup in 3 batches in a blender until smooth, transferring to a bowl. Transfer into cleaned pot, bring to a simmer and season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add bread cubes and cook, tossing occasionally, until lightly golden, about 4 minutes. Cut reserved chestnuts into small pieces. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with bread cubes and reserved chestnut pieces, and serve.

December 2008

keywords:

fall, chestnuts, italian bread, starter, soup

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Comments [5] | Add your comment

it sucks that such a good recipe got such a low rating because the user simply didn't prepare it correctly. there's no way that 6.25 cups of water and 2 cups of chestnuts become 3.5 cups of soup unless it was simmered too long or at too high a temperature
Posted: December 31, 2009 05:09 by ereignis
tips - you MUST use large italian chestnuts, the big dark ones, not the small tan ones, or the roasting/peeling process will take forever... and try straining the broth before adding the chestnuts, the leeks may come apart while simmering
Posted: December 31, 2009 05:07 by ereignis
i made this recipe twice last week, and it was fantastic! when i looked at the ingredients, i thought it would be too bland but i gave it a shot and i am VERY glad that i did - the broth and chestnuts marry perfectly!
Posted: December 31, 2009 05:02 by ereignis
Posted: January 27, 2009 11:52 by sara
I followed all the instructions, and it was very long and laborious (including the roasting/peeling chestnuts) for what ended up being about 3.5 cups worth of soup. Given I like chestnuts, the soup tasted nice, but it was very concentrated and almost too
Posted: January 27, 2009 11:52 by sara