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Creamy chestnut soup with bacon croutons and thyme, served with a Viognier from Elephant Hill Sea, Te Awanga, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand

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
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
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
  

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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