I love chestnut soup! I have made lots of variations of it and taken inspiration from many recipes for this one. I particularly like Nigella Lawson’s version but I have tweaked it so many times that the following recipe is by far my favourite way to do it. By all means, roast the chestnuts yourself if you fancy it but for convenience I use the vac packed type. If you can’t get these, unsweetened puree will suffice.

I made this soup as a starter for Sunday lunch recently. We had 8 adults, 3 children & 2 dogs. The soup went down well with both adults and children alike. Although it is ideal at Christmas time it is not confined to it! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do :0)

(Serves 6 generously)

Ingredients:

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 carrot, chopped

1/2 parsnip, chopped

1 stick of celery, chopped

A good glug of olive oil

A couple of Sage leaves, chopped

250 grms of vacuum packed Chestnuts, chopped or 1 tin of Unsweetened Chestnut Puree

1 small tin of Chickpeas

75 mls Marsala, Madeira or Sherry

750 mls of Chicken Stock

Salt & Pepper

3-4 Slices Parma/Serrano ham or streaky rashers

A dollop of crème fraiche for each bowl

Method:

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and saute the veg for about 10 mins or until softened with a pinch of salt

Add the chickpeas, sage and chestnuts and continue cooking for another minute or so

Add the most of the alcohol (keeping a little back) and allow to bubble up

Add the chicken stock and simmer for about 30 mins

When all the ingredients are soft, blend the soup and check for seasoning

Add the remainder of the alcohol and stir through

To Serve:

Cook the bacon until crisp and chop up finely

Pour the soup into bowls and place a dollop of crème fraiche on each, topped with the bacon