This Spanish recipe is lovely and filling
Chestnut and chorizo soup Sopa de castañas
Serves 4
Ingredients
4tbsp olive oil
1 large Spanish onion, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
1 celery stick, thinly sliced
120g mild cooking chorizo, cut into 1cm cubes
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1tsp ground cumin
1½tsp finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
2 small dried red chillies, crushed
2 tomatoes, fresh or tinned, roughly chopped
500g cooked, peeled chestnuts fresh (or vacuum-packed), roughly chopped
20 saffron threads, infused in 3-4 tbsp boiling water
1 litre water
Sea salt and black pepper
Method
In a large saucepan, heat the olive 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 quite brown. This gives the soup a wonderfully rich colour and taste.
Now add the garlic, cumin, thyme and chilli and cook for one more minute, followed by the tomato and, after about two minutes, the chestnuts. Give everything a good stir, then add the saffron-infused liquid, and the water, and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Remove from the heat and mash by hand (with a potato masher) until almost smooth but still with a little bit of texture. Season with salt and pepper, then serve.
from Sam and Sam Clark’s Moro: The Cookbook
PS My Spanish friends are aghast that I store chorizo in the fridge. I like it in a Spanish omelette but DH isn't too keen on paprika.