Surprise! We're taking a break from sweets on the blog today and going savory. Believe it or not, I eat and cook other things besides cookies and cakes. It's easier to take pictures of treats though...they seem to sit still a lot better than savory foods, I find.
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As I've mentioned before, I love chestnuts! I love eating them plain, in dessert, or in savory dishes. This time of year, I try to buy as many fresh chestnuts as possible and enjoy them before they disappear from the supermarket.
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| I boil chestnuts for snacking... |
So I've been eating my weight in chestnuts - or at least making space for them alongside all the Christmas cookies. And in the spirit of my preference for easy everyday cooking most of the time, I thought I'd share this minimalist chestnut soup with you. "Minimalist" because the recipe comes directly from the Mark Bittman, the Minimalist himself, and from the sheer fact that this soup recipe is so simple - almost bare-bones.
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| Jarred (or vacuum-packed) chestnuts are a big time-saver for soups like these |
It's just a few ingredients - chestnuts, chicken stock, onions, and celery, essentially. I used jarred chestnuts because I can't roast chestnuts for my life and though it's expensive, you might get lucky and find them on sale this time of year. There's no cream or any dairy in this soup (nor potatoes or other kinds of vegetables, even fruit, that you sometimes find in chestnut soups) but it's robust and creamy. The chestnut flavor is subtle - I find it almost difficult to describe their flavor here. It contributes a nuttiness, almost a woodsiness, in the background that's hard to identify but so good.
The smell of this soup simmering on the stove reminded me of chestnut soup my mother made when I was a child. I honestly don't think she made it very often but I always think about it. It was one of those special foods I recall enjoying and appreciating even as a kid.
