Velvety smooth with a savory taste like hazelnuts and potatoes dusted with maple sugar, Potage aux Marrons is a simple French chestnut soup recipe that tastes more complicated than it is to make. This is a great soup to make soon when the chestnuts fall.
Ingredients
1.5 lbs Italian chestnuts 1 lb for the soup, ½ lb for garnishing.
4 tbsp unsalted butter
6 oz diced yellow sweet onion 1 medium onion
4 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
½ cup heavy cream or half and half
¼ cup marsala wine or sherry optional
Kosher salt to taste
Freshly ground or grated nutmeg to taste
sliced cut chives or fresh parsley to garnish, optional
Spice Bouquet (Optional)
2 cloves
1 dried bay leaf
2 small fresh thyme sprigs
Instructions
Steam and peel the chestnuts
Keeping each nut flat-side down, score each chestnut with an X. Alternately, they can be cut in half. Put the chestnuts in a 12 inch skillet with 1 cup of water, cover, bring to a boil, turn the heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes.
Remove the chestnuts a handful at a time and peel them, keeping the unpeeled nuts together in the pan to stay warm.
Set aside 10 ounces of nuts to puree into the soup. Reserve about 5 ounces of chestnuts (1-2 nuts per serving) cut into bite-sized pieces and reserve to garnish the finished soup.
Build the soup
Melt the butter in a 3 quart stock pot and add the onions. Cook on medium heat until cooked and translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Add the marsala or sherry and cook until the pan is nearly dry.
Add the chicken stock, herb bouquet, and chestnuts. Cover the pot, bring to a gentle simmer and cook for twenty minutes. Discard the herb bouquet.
Working in batches if needed, puree the soup in a blender until very smooth.
Add the cream at the end, season the soup to taste with a few gratings of nutmeg, a splash of maple syrup to taste, and kosher salt. Stir, double check the seasoning again and adjust until it tastes good to you.
Serving
Serve the soup in small bowls like the luxury it is. A 6-8 ounce portion is plenty. Garnish with dollops of creme fraiche, chopped cooked chestnuts and a sprinkle of chives.
Full blog and details from source at https://foragerchef.com/chestnut-soup/