Creamy chestnut soup with bacon croutons & thyme

Chestnut soup for chilly autumn days and a New Zealand wine with a creamy texture

A New Zealand wine accompanies this chestnut soup, which, in November, evokes the flavours of autumn and a cosy fire. Pre-cooked chestnuts are softened in butter with onion, carrot and celery, deglazed with white wine and stock, and gently simmered with thyme. Puréed and finished with cream, the result is a velvety soup with a nutty, slightly sweet note. It is topped with crispy croutons, fried in rendered bacon until golden brown, and fresh thyme. This dish is easy enough for beginners to master, is quick to cook and can be prepared in advance. It’s perfect for a cosy evening, as a starter for guests or as a main course served with bread. A white wine with a creamy texture, ripe fruit and delicate acidity rounds the dish off perfectly.

Ideal wine pairing: Elephant Hill Sea Viognier (Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand)

Delicate aromas of apricot and peach rise to the nose, accompanied by yellow apple, nectarine, spices, floral notes and subtle toasty aromas. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, juicy and creamy, with a finely balanced acidity and a long finish with a salty, mineral character. The grapes come from Te Awanga on the South Pacific coast; 40 per cent of the wine was fermented in oak barrels and 60 per cent in stainless-steel tanks, with part of the ageing taking place in new French oak barrels. With 13.5 per cent alcohol, 0.8 grams of residual sugar and 4.7 grams of acidity, it is dry. This pairs well with chestnut soup, as the apricot and peach notes complement the natural sweetness of the chestnuts, the creamy texture complements the cream, the toasted aromas echo the croutons, and the salty finish harmonises with the bacon. Cameron Douglas MS awarded it 95 points. Serve the wine at 8 to 10 degrees in a Chardonnay glass.

The recipe:

Creamy chestnut soup with bacon croutons & thyme

Sauté the onion, carrot and celery in butter, add the pre-cooked chestnuts and cook briefly, then deglaze with white wine and vegetable stock. After cooking for 20 minutes with thyme and bay leaf, purée the soup until smooth and season to taste with cream and nutmeg. The croutons are fried in rendered bacon cubes until crispy and sprinkled over the soup along with fresh thyme. The recipe serves two, is easy enough for beginners, takes less than an hour to prepare and pairs perfectly with a white wine that has a creamy texture and delicate acidity.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Cuisine European, German

Servings 2 people

Calories 620 kcal

Equipment

• 1 Medium-sized pot
• 1 Hand blender
• 1 Small frying pan
• 1 Fine sieve
• 1 ladle
• 1 A sharp kitchen knife

Ingredients

  

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FOR THE SOUP:

• 250 g pre-cooked chestnuts
• 1 Onion
• 1 small carrot
• 50 g Celeriac
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 50 ml dry white wine
• 400 ml vegetable broth
• 150 ml cream
• 3 sprigs of thyme
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1 A pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• Salt Pepper

FOR THE BACON CROÛTONS:

• 60 g streaky bacon
• 2 Slices of country bread about 60 g
• 1 teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves

FOR SERVING:

• 1 1 tablespoon of cream
• A few thyme leaves
• 2 Chestnuts for garnish
• Freshly ground pepper

Instructions

 

PREPARATION:

• Peel the onion (1) and dice it finely.
• Peel the carrot (1) and the celery (50 g) and dice them finely.
• Chop the chestnuts (250 g) into rough pieces and set aside 2 chestnuts for garnish.
• Cut the bacon (60 g) into small cubes.
• Cut the bread (2 slices) into 1 cm cubes.
• Pluck the thyme leaves from the sprigs for the croutons and the garnish.

COOKING STEPS:

• Heat the butter (1 tbsp) in a saucepan and gently fry the onion, carrot and celery over a medium heat for 5 minutes until translucent.
• Add the chestnuts and fry for 2 minutes.
• Deglaze with white wine (50 ml) and allow it to reduce almost completely.
• Add the vegetable stock (400 ml), thyme (3 sprigs) and bay leaf (1) and leave to simmer gently for 20 minutes.
• Remove the sprigs of thyme and the bay leaf.
• Blend the soup until smooth using a hand blender.
• Stir in the cream (150 ml) and heat for a further 3 minutes.
• Season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
• Meanwhile, gently fry the diced bacon in a cold frying pan until crispy.
• Add the bread cubes to the bacon fat and fry for 4 minutes until golden brown.
• Fry the thyme leaves (1 tsp) briefly and then drain everything on kitchen paper.

SERVE:

• Ladle the soup into pre-warmed, deep plates.
• Place a dollop of cream (1 tbsp) in the centre.
• Scatter the bacon croutons on top.
• Sprinkle with thyme leaves, crumbled chestnuts and freshly ground pepper.
• Serve immediately.

SIDE DISHES:

• Baguette, fresh from the oven, with herb butter
• Lamb’s lettuce with apple and mustard vinaigrette
• Pan-fried pear slices with thyme

Nutrition

Calories: 620kcalCarbohydrates: 52gProtein: 14gFat: 38g

Keyword Bacon croutons, Chestnut soup, Chestnut soup, Chestnuts, Chestnuts, Cream soup, Fall Recipe, November recipe, Thyme, Viognier, Wine from New Zealand, Wine to go with chestnut soup

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