Spanish cuisine · Soups & Stews

Galician Pumpkin and Chestnut Soup

Galician autumn soup of pumpkin and chestnuts, sweated with leek and finished with green olive oil.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 1 kg hokkaido or butternut squash
• 300 g chestnuts (pre-cooked)
• 1 leek
• 1 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 floury potato
• 1.2 l vegetable stock
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 1 pinch cinnamon
• Salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Wash the pumpkin, remove the seeds and cut it, skin on, into 3 cm cubes; peel and dice the potato; slit the leek lengthwise, wash it and cut into rings.
2. Heat 4 tbsp olive oil in a large pot and sweat the leek, diced onion and chopped garlic over low heat for 8–10 min. until soft, without letting them brown.
3. Add the pumpkin and potato cubes, toss for 3 min., roughly break two-thirds of the chestnuts and add them to the pot as well.
4. Pour in the vegetable stock and simmer covered for 25 min., until the pumpkin collapses under light pressure.
5. Purée the soup very finely with an immersion blender and season with salt, pepper and the cinnamon; if it is too thick, thin it with a little hot water.
6. Roughly chop the remaining chestnuts, scatter them over the bowls and serve the soup drizzled with the remaining olive oil.