CREAMY CHESTNUT SOUP WITH POMEGRANATE AND WALNUT TOPPING

Why would I post a recipe for chestnut soup in springtime? Isn't that somehow an autumn / winter recipe, isn't it?

Well, yeah, but there can be these grumpy rainy days when you may want to prepare this wonderful creamy chestnut soup.

For example on days like these:

Today is one of those days where you are allowed to grumble all day, as an inhabitant of Vienna (we love to be grumpy!): The weather is oasch (I do not translate this), it's pouring, although actually it's weekend, all the people around are having a cold, and the tramway is not coming for ages. Or even better: you are the person who is sneezing and coughing around in public transport, and everything is exhausting today....

On such days a creamy "Comfort Soup", like this one can help! If you like chestnuts, you will love this soup!

The idea for the recipe I got from a cookbook of one of Vienna's most famous children's book writers, Christine Nöstlinger. Besides thousands of wonderful and funny children's books, she also wrote a few cookbooks. She has got a few of her books translated to english, but the cookbook "Mit zwei linken Kochlöffeln", where the recipe comes from, is only available in German (to my knowledge).

In principle, the Comfort Soups in Christine Nöstlinger's book work like this: 2 parts beef broth, 1 part whipped cream, maybe 1-2 egg yolks and 1 part of the special ingredient that gives the soup its name (such as chestnut).

I have changed the recipe a bit, so that it's lighter. (And because I did not have at home all of the ingredients.) Because for me, the yolks are a bit of an overkill, I leave them out and also I replaced the whipped cream with sour cream.

Walnuts and pomegranate seeds I've chosen as topping because they look nice on pictures 😉 And of course they taste great, but the superstar in this soup is definitely the chestnut....

Here comes the recipe for my chestnut soup :

[ingredients title="Ingredients (4 Persons)"]

• 800ml beef stock (or vegetable broth) {Americans: 3.5 cups}
• 125ml sour cream (or whipping cream) {about ½ cup}
• 120g peeled chestnuts (raw or undercooked from the package) {about ⅔ cup}
• Pomegranate, seeds to taste
• Walnuts, to taste

[/ingredients]

[directions title="Directions"]

1. Pour the broth in a pot and bring to a boil
2. If chestnuts are allready cooked, add to hot soup and let simmer for 2-3 minutes
3. If raw chestnuts are used, here is how to cook/prepare them, add to soup when peeled. Cook for about 10 minutes.
4. When chestnuts are soft, add sour cream and purée with a hand blender
5. The pomegranate seeds and walnuts I've served separately, so that everyone can decide how much he adds as topping.

[/directions]

Enjoy Your Meal!

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