Lentil and Chestnut Soup

I don’t think I’ve told you yet, but I’ve recently started writing restaurant reviews every other month at I Prefer Paris, a blog from another ex-New Yorker turned Parisian. This month, Richard, who runs the blog, took me to dinner at Les Diables du Thym, and my review was based on this sweet little restaurant in the 9th.

As I often do, I ordered two appetizers instead of an appetizer and a main course. I started doing it back in the States just because I can’t eat that much food and not feel sick. However, I continued doing it because I realized that often the appetizers are the most inspired dishes on the whole menu.

My favorite of the two I picked was a mushroom and chestnut soup. I had had chestnuts in chestnut paste, a popular topping for crêpes, in chestnut cake, even as whole roasted chestnuts on the steps of the Spanish steps one winter we spent in Rome. But I don’t remember ever having had chestnuts in a savory dish. Of course I’d heard of it: I know all about chestnut stuffing, but I had never considered how the rich touch of sweetness of chestnuts could so elevate what was otherwise such a simple soup.

So of course, as I was reading archives of Chocolate and Zucchini (yet another Paris blog), when I stumbled upon this recipe for Chestnut and Lentil soup, I had to try it out. I didn’t change a thing: the recipe is so simple anyway. I used my immersion blender, as Clotilde suggested. It was incredible! I can’t wait to try making more savory dishes with chestnuts.