Seven days until Christmas!!
One week until we can sit around the tree with our loved ones, sip some mulled wine, light a cozy fire in the hearth, and spend the day enjoying the people that we love, all interspersed with delicious food!
I like this part of the season. With seven days left, we’re still far enough away that the excitement is percolating at full force, heightened by each card that arrives, or each new present under the tree. But at the same time we’re close enough that the presents are all done, and I can spend the next few days celebrating through what I love doing most, cooking!
So today I decided to make some festive chestnut soup. Filled with sweet chestnuts, warming potato, and Christmas-y sage, it’s a bowlful of seasonal cheer.
I’d never had chestnut soup before, and in fact had never really had chestnuts very often at all until a couple of years ago. I hadn’t realized how much I was missing! These lovely, filling, and low GI nuts are not just delicious and quintessentially festive, but they also provide an impressive list of healthy attributes.
I think that we all know by now that nuts are good for us, and that including a variety of them into our diet provides a myriad of beneficial nutrients. Chestnuts seem to be an often overlooked, but super valuable part of this family. Though they don’t provide the high levels of mono-saturated fats that most nuts do, they do have some wonderful and particular qualities. Along with their unique low-fat credentials, they are exceptionally high in fiber, and are the only nuts that contain vitamin C, with a 3 oz serving providing nearly half of your RDA of this essential antioxidant. They also contain an impressive amount of linoleic and folic acid, making them an excellent ingredient in the promotion of cardiovascular health, and a great choice during pregnancy as they help to promote neurological development.
This festive chestnut soup is a lovely lead-up-to-Christmas dish, or a perfect meal to be made ahead of time and frozen for boxing day! It’s smooth, warming, healthy, and will fill your house with smells that are sure to get the festive joy flowing!
- 1L vegetable stock
- 2 medium potatoes, peeled and grated (about 200g worth)
- 180g package of cooked, peeled chestnuts
- 1 Tbsp fresh sage, finely chopped, or 1tsp dried
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Chopped parsley to serve (optional)
- In a large pot, over medium-high heat, bring the stock to the boil.
- Add the potato, chestnuts, sage and nutmeg,stir,and lower the heat to medium-low. Leave to simmer about 30 minutes, until the potato is well cooked and disintegrating.
- Remove from the heat and blitz in the pot with a submersion blender, or transfer to a food processor and blitz until smooth. Re-heat in the pot if necessary. Season to taste.
- Serve hot sprinkled with parsley, or allow to cool to room temperature and then freeze for use at a later date.