Sweet Chestnut and Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

Foraging sweet chestnuts is loads of fun but what do you do with your loot once you get home? Since chestnut pillows are not particularly comfortable, I suggest eating them thar chestnuts as a hearty winter soup. This sweet chestnut and butternut squash soup recipe is the perfect cold weather warmer, the type of comfort food that pleases all ages, particularly if you add croutons or crumbled bacon on top. It’s also an easy one-pot meal, the type of dinner you can start cooking and be done with it in 20 minutes.

I used the sweet chestnuts I harvested last weekend for that recipe and since they were reluctant to peel, I scooped the flesh out of my chestnuts with a small spoon. That’s why you see chestnuts as chunky bits rather than perfect chestnuts in the photos. They taste great anyway and the soup is just the right size for a family of 4, plus a little bit.

Here’s the recipe.

You will need

•  1 butternut squash – sliced lengthwise and cooked in the oven, face down on a baking tray during 20 min or until soft when pierced with a fork
• 1 onion – sliced thinly
• 1.5 cups sweet chestnuts – roasted and peeled (or from jar)
• 1 bunch of parsley, coarsely chopped
• 4 cups chicken stock
• salt and pepper
• Croutons or chopped bacon jerky to garnish

How to make the soup

Start by heating 1 Tb of olive oil in a thick-bottomed pan.

Stir in the sliced onion and stir fry until it’s turning golden brown (approximately 5 minutes)

Add the butternut squash in the pot by scooping the cooked flesh with a spoon. That’s your cooked butternut squash here…

And presto it goes in the pot. Just so.

Now, add 4 cups of chicken stock to dampen the lot

And add 1.5 cups of sweet chestnuts

• Of course, we like our greens so you can add the chopped parsley for some color

• And blitz that soup with a blender

• Adjust seasoning to taste

• Got it? Dinner is ready!