Make The Most Of Roasted Chestnut Season With This Mushroom Soup

Chestnuts aren't just for plain ol' roasting over an open fire. This Mediterranean-inspired dish uses them alongside one of our other favorite ingredients, mushrooms, to create a perfectly balanced soup that's great for this time of year.

From America's Test Kitchen's More Mediterranean, this recipe is a variation on a traditional dish from Turkey, which is the third-largest producer of chestnuts in the world. Specifically, the authors write: "We were inspired by kestane çorbasi, a pureed chestnut soup that can lean sweet or savory depending on who is at the stovetop. Along with the woodsy, rich chestnuts, our soup achieves an appealing sweet-savory balance from shallots and mushrooms (both classic ingredients). The addition of baharat in our version, which we saw in some ­recipes, manages to augment all the distinct flavors in the soup with its ­complex spice."

You can purchase peeled and cooked chestnuts jarred or vacuum-packed, which makes easy work of using chestnuts in this recipe that purees the soft fruit. If you can't find them precooked, or if you're attracted to the baskets of raw chestnuts at the store in the winter months, you can prepare them at home. When ­purchasing, be sure to look for nuts with glossy shells and avoid those that rattle when shaken, as this indicates that they have dried out.

For this recipe, cut 20 ounces of whole chestnuts in half crosswise, then blanch for 8 minutes in 8 cups of boiling water. Remove the pot from the heat, leaving the nuts in the water. One at a time, hold the chestnuts with a dish towel and squeeze the shell to extract the meat. Using a paring knife, trim any bits of husk.