Roasted Chestnut & Butternut Squash Velouté

I think I have culinary Stockholm Syndrome. One of the things I had to prepare for my final last semester was a mushroom velouté, and now I can't seem to stop myself from making different versions of the same thing ... over and over and over.

Eh, I don't really mind.  I am not ready to jump on the January New Year's resolution salad bandwagon just yet. Sure, I'd love to lose a pound (or three) but ... I simply cannot bring myself to care all that much. At least, not enough to give up rib-sticking foods in the middle of winter. So, for now,  I'll just suck it up and do some extra time on the treadmill so that I can continue to slurp on hearty, mostly-healthy things (and wash it down with wine of course). May I humbly suggest that you do the same?

Velouté is actually one of the five French mother sauces, along with bechamel, espagnole, tomato, and hollandaise. (If you're cramming for your culinary final, the acronym is BETH-V.) Here, a thin chicken velouté is used as broth, to which cream (or, if you prefer, yogurt, milk, or half and half) is later added. You could also use vegetable stock to keep it vegetarian. Once you make soup this way, you'll want to experiment with different variations all winter long.

 Roast Chestnut & Butternut Squash Velouté

1 1/2 pounds chestnuts (pre-roasting weight)

1 Tbsp butter

1 large onion, roughly chopped

1 small butternut squash, peeled, pulp & seeds removed, & cubed

sea salt and white pepper

1/4-1/2 cup heavy cream 

For the veloute:

2 ounces AP flour

2 ounces clarified butter or ghee

4 cups chicken stock

For the garnish:

4 slices fried bacon, crumbled

Chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

To roast the chestnuts, cut an "x" into the top of each one and roast, in a single layer, at 425 F for 15 minutes, until soft:

Let cool before peeling, and roughly chop. Meanwhile, in a large stockpot, saute the onions over medium low heat until translucent. Add the squash and cooled, peeled, and chopped chestnuts, season with salt and white pepper, cover and allow to sweat until tender, stirring occasionally.

To make the velouté, first make a blonde roux: In a skillet, heat the clarified butter over medium high heat. Add the flour and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the resulting paste takes on a blonde color and smells nutty. Remove from heat and allow to cool. In a saucepan, heat the chicken stock until it boils, and reduce heat. Carefully add the roux and whisk to dissolve. Bring back to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. The velouté should coat the back of a spoon, but not be too thick - if it is, add more stock. Season with salt and white pepper, and add enough to the (by now softened) vegetables to cover by about an inch. (Purists will tell you to strain the velouté through a chinois, but my Stockholm Syndrome isn't that bad!) Simmer this for 10 minutes. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until very smooth. Season again - don't be afraid of the salt! (See, Chef, I learned my lesson.) If the soup is too thick at this point, add a bit more stock. Gently heat the cream and slowly add to the soup until it reaches the desired consistency. Once again, season to taste. 

To serve, garnish with the bacon and parsley  - the smokiness of the bacon works really well with the hearty chestnuts. I'm telling you, you're going to want to make all kinds of veloute soups once you try this one - I am a big fan of mushroom, broccoli, and pumpkin (not all at once, mind you ...  ick) but there's really no limit - and the cream is worth an extra few minutes on the treadmill, don't you agree?