Laiik Makes Greek Food: Creamy Chestnut Soup
Hello February! For our Kalo Mina recipe, we're making a rich, creamy soup packed with umami that just warms your soul: creamy chestnut soup. So grab your Laiik shoes, head to the market for fresh chestnuts, and come make Greek food with us.
Preparation Time: 30 minutes, Cooking Time: 80 minutes, Portions: 8-10
Ingredients: 3.5 tbsp of butter, 2 tbsp of olive oil, 1 whole carrot, 1 whole onion, 1 leek (only the white part), 1 celery rib, 2 cloves of garlic, 4 pounds of potatoes, 13.5 cups of water, 1 cube of vegetable stock, salt, pepper, 1 bayleaf, 5 sprigs of thyme, 1/2 tsp of nutmeg, 1.1 pounds of raw chestnuts, 3.4 ounces of fresh cream.
Preparation
- Chop the onion and carrots
- Slice the leek lengthwise along the center, and then cut into 1 cm thick slices
- Cut the potatoes into pieces 2-3 cm thick
- Carve an X at the bottom of each chestnut
Cooking
- In a pot on medium heat, melt the butter in the olive oil
- Add the carrots, onions and leek to the pot, along with the 2 cloves of garlic (whole, do not cut). Sauté for 5 minutes, until slightly colored
- Add the potatoes to the pot, and sauté for another minute
- Add the water, vegetable broth cube, salt, pepper and bay leaf to the pot. Add the thyme and nutmeg, and let the mix boil for 60 minutes
- In a separate pot, boil the chestnuts for 10 minutes, and then peel them, taking care to remove both the outer shell as well as the inner brown membrane (to the extent possible)
- Add the chestnuts to the pot with the vegetables - boil for another 20 minutes
- Take the pot off the heat, and remove the bayleaf and thyme sprigs
- Use a hand blender to blend the contents of the pot
- Place the pot on medium heat again, and add the fresh cream
- Allow to boil for 1-2 minutes
Serve
Serve with whole chestnuts and a few sprigs of thyme
