Recipe 1. Chestnut & Chorizo Soup

Chestnut and chorizo soup
I cannot believe that I have not cooked this soup before! Hiding in the pages of Moro The Cookbook by Sam and Sam Clark (Ebury Press), this warm soup combines some of the classic flavours of Spanish cooking to produce a comforting and mildly spicy meal in a bowl!

Serves 4

4 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
1 celery stick, diced
120g mild cooking chorizo, cut into 1cm cubes
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tsp ground cumin
1½ tsp fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
2 small dried red chillies, crushed
2 tomatoes, fresh or tinned, roughly chopped
500g cooked peeled chestnuts (fresh or vacuum-packed), roughly chopped, (I used two packets of vacuum packed chestnuts)
20 saffron threads, infused in 3-4 tbsp boiling water
1 litre water
Salt and black pepper

1 In a large saucepan heat the oil over a medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, chorizo and a pinch of salt and fry for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until everything caramelises and turns brown.

2 Now add the garlic, cumin, thyme and chilli and cook for 1 more minute, followed by the tomatoes and, after about 2 minutes, the chestnuts.

3 Give everything a good stir, then add the saffron-infused liquid, and the water, and simmer for about 10 minutes.
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4 Remove from the heat and mash until almost smooth but still with a bit of texture. Season with salt and pepper.

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