Washington, D.C. - January 25, 2006

Soup’s On

Chestnut Soup Recipe

We’re cold, we’re tired, we’re bored, and we’ve got a long way to go till spring. Come to think of it, we’re hungry, too. (Shocker.) So we called Fabio Trabocchi, much-lauded chef of Maestro in Tyson’s Corner, to ask for a winter picker-upper.

Chestnut soup, he said. Yummers, we said. Turns out it’s not even impossible to make.

Fabio Trabocchi’s Chestnut Soup

Serves six

Ingredients:
12 teaspoons (6 ounces) unsalted butter
2 ounces pancetta
2/3 cup chopped shallots
2/3 cup peeled and chopped celery root
1/2 pound sliced button mushrooms
1  1/2 pounds vacuum-packed chestnuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup cognac
5 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup light cream or half and half
1 bay leaf
1 sprig sage
1 sprig thyme

1. In large saucepan, melt six teaspoons of butter over medium heat. Add pancetta, shallots, and celery root. Cook for ten minutes or until celery root is tender. Remove from heat and set aside.

2. Melt remaining butter in large sauté pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms and chestnuts and sauté until chestnuts are golden brown.

3. Transfer mix to saucepan with pancetta. Return saucepan to medium heat and sauté for five minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4. Remove from heat and add cognac. Carefully flame the cognac by holding a match just above the surface of the liquid to ignite the vapor. (The flame will stop when the alcohol evaporates.)

5. Return saucepan to medium heat and add chicken stock. Tie the bay leaf, sage, and thyme together with kitchen twine and add to the stock. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.

6. Remove pancetta from soup (use a slotted spoon). Working in small batches, ladle the soup into a blender, blending until smooth.

7. Return to saucepan, stir in cream, and season to taste with more salt and pepper.

Serve hot and watch your winter blahs fade. For now, at least.

Fabio Trabocchi is the chef at Maestro, The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner, 1700 Tysons Boulevard, McLean (703-821-1515 or ritzcarlton.com).