Chestnuts, where have you been my whole life?  Totally immense in the deliciousness stakes, I can’t believe this is the first time I have eaten or cooked with them!  As chestnuts are featured in recipes all over the place at the moment I thought I’d hop on the chestnut bandwagon and have a go myself.  I already had some chestnut soup recipes saved exactly for this purpose from some time ago (I have a scrap book with recipes torn out from magazines etc – yes I’m that much of a recipe looser) and now was my time to try it.  I had 2 recipes on hand – chestnut and carrot, and chestnut and mushroom.  However since I had some parsnips in my fridge left over from last weeks stew I chucked them in instead.  This was so simple to do, creamy, filling and seasonal enough to get me right into the Christmas spirit.  Now if only I had an open fire to roast them on….

Ingredients

(Serves 2 as a main meal, or more for a starter or snack)

• olive oil
• onion, finely diced
• 4 parsnips
• 200g of cooked and peeled chestnuts (see below for more info)
• 1 tablespoon dried herbs.  Preferably sage if you have it
• 1 litre of vegetable stock

Method

• Heat olive oil in large saucepan and saute onion for a few minutes, then add the parsnips, chestnuts and herbs.
• Add the stock, bring to the boil, then simmer partly covered for 25 minutes.
• Blend, then return to the saucepan adding more water (if the soup is too thick), warm through and serve.
• Top with cracked black pepper, and additional herbs if liked.

Notes:  The chestnuts I used are by Merchant Gourmet  and come vacuum packed.  I found these in my large branch of Sainsbury’s (in the aisle with canned beans, lentils etc) and they are not expensive.