- 3 cups whole roasted bottled chestnuts
- 2 cups chopped yellow onion
- 3/4 cup thinly sliced carrot
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 6 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
- 5/8 tsp. kosher salt, divided
- 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme leaves
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Step 1. Prepare the chestnuts. Place chestnuts on a jelly-roll pan and bake for 15 minutes. Place chestnuts in large bowl and cool to room temperature.
Step 2. Prepare the puree. Combine onion, carrot and oil on same jelly-roll pain. Toss to coat the vegetables. Bake for 1/2 hour or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add the chestnuts in bowl and stir in broth. Pour half the mixture into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the pureed mixture into a large pot. Repeat procedure with remaining broth mixture. Or if you're lucky enough to have an immersion blender, put everything into the large pot and puree it all at once in the pot. Stir in the 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Please pot over medium high heat and bring to a simmer, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.
Step 3. Prepare the whipped cream. Place cream in medium bowl and beat with a hand mixer at high speed until soft peaks form. Add remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt and beat at high speed until stiff peaks form.
Step 4. Serve. Ladle soup into bowls and top serving with about a teaspoon of whipped cream. Sprinkle with thyme and serve.