Another chestnut and squash soup

Fall is here. I still keep a certain amount of dried chestnuts in my pantry. My favorite fruit store has squash. Saturn is aligned with Jupiter. Everything pushes me to prepare a flavorful and comforting soup. It's not a very original proposal, but I've renovated the recipe by adding an obscene amount of alcohol...


Boozy chestnut and squash soup

• 1/2kg squash
• 250g dried chestnuts (equivalent to 400g fresh chestnuts, though I prefer them dried, at least you don't need to peel them)
• 1 large onion
  
• 1 generous glass sweet wine (OK, two glasses, one for the soup and another one for the cook... I used a Pedro Ximenez wine, Dos pasas, but any good tawny Port or moscatel would do)
• 1 pinch nutmeg
  
• 1l water, chicken or vegetable stock
• Oil for frying the onion
  
• Salt to taste
  

If you use dried chestnuts, leave them overnight in water to soak. Afterwards I thought it would have been maybe a good idea to soak them in the wine, the flavor could have been stronger. The next day heat the oven to 180°C. Brush the squash portion with oil and roast it for around half an hour till cooked through. In the meantime, boil the chestnuts in the wine and prepare the sofrito with the finely minced onion and a little oil. Test the squash with a knife for doneness. If it's cooked, peel it, cut it in several pieces and add to the chestnut pan. Add the sofrito when the onion is thoroughly soft. Then add the liquid and boil everything until the chestnuts are tender.


Finally add the nutmeg and the salt. Puree the mixture in a blender until very fine. Of course I use my Thermomix. Use a foodmill if your machine is not powerful enough to get rid of little hard chestnut pieces. Once everything is pureed, adjust the salt to your taste. I had to add a lot, more than 2 teaspoons, because all the ingredients are sweet in fact. Adjust the liquid also if needed, depending on the thickness.


I loved the result, you can clearly notice the sweet wine flavor, therefore I recommend to use a medium-high quality wine (well, not too high, that would be a sin). Funnily enough, you can clearly make out the different flavors: the sweetness of the squash and the onion, and the earthiness of the chestnuts. For serving this kind of soup I find that little slivers of bacon or jamón, fried or roasted till very crispy, are a match made in heaven (no, don't fry or roast Ibérico ham for this! That would be another sin). I cut the slices in little pieces and microwave them. It's quick, clean and easy. Mmmm, this soup matches the Sunday roast perfectly...