Chestnut Soup With Amaretto

Servings: 8
Ingredients:

2 lb Fresh chestnuts
2    Carrots
2    Parsnips
1 sm Onion
1 sm Clove garlic
2    To 3 scallions
3    Stalks celery, OR 1 small
-celery root
4 tb Butter
5 c  Brown stock or chicken stock
1    Bouquet garni of bayleaf,
-thyme, and parsley
3    To 4 Tbl amaretto or
-hazelnut liqueur (like
-Frangelico)
1 c  Heavy cream

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste Cayenne pepper and freshly
ground nutmeg

Make a slash in the rounded side of each chestnut and roast in a preheated
400 F oven for 5 minutes. Peel off the shell and inner skin.

Peel the carrots, parsnip, onion and garlic. Finely chop all of the
vegetables, including the scallions and celery. Melt the butter in a large
saucepan over medium heat. Add the vegetables and cook for 5 minutes, or
until soft but not brown. Add the chestnuts, stock and bouquet garni.
Gently simmer the soup for 40 minutes, or until the chestnuts are very
soft.

Remove the bouquet garni and puree the soup in a blender or food processor.
Return the soup to the saucepan, adding the amaretto, 2/3 of the cream, and
salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and nutmeg to taste; the soup should be very
flavorful. If a sweeter flavor is desired, add a spoonful of brown sugar.

To serve, ladle the chestnut soup into warmed bowls. Pour a little of the
remaining cream into each bowl and marble it into the soup, stirring with a
skewer. Chestnut soup is extremely rich, so keep the rest of the meal
simple.

Makes 8 servings.

Nutrient Value per Serving: 516 Calories, 10 g Protein, 19 g Fat, 11 g
Saturated Fat, 75 g Carbohydrates, 57 mg Cholesterol, 582 mg Sodium

[The Washington Post; January 9, 1991]

Posted by Fred Peters.