I love this soup for its velvety richness. Strictly speaking, you don’t have to have the leek or the celery, but because we’re using vegetable stock and not, say, chicken stock, I think it’s good to have as many flavours going on as possible.
Serves 4
1kg carrots
1 stick of celery
1 leek
1 400g tin of chestnut puree (unsweetened)
750ml vegetable stock (see my separate recipe for this)
Parsley and olive oil to garnish
Clean and prepare the vegetables, then chop roughly and add to a large saucepan with 500ml of the stock. Boil for around 20 minutes until the veg is completely soft. Allow to cool a bit and then blend using a stick blender or liquidiser until smooth (do it carefully so as not to spray hot soup everywhere!). Add the chestnut puree and continue blending, gradually adding more liquid as you go. You should end up with a smooth soup without any clagginess. If you want a more liquid soup, add more stock or water. Finally, season to taste with salt. I like to serve this with a swirl of olive oil and a sprinkling of parsley.