This soup makes a really lovely winter starter. It’s simple but has a touch of luxury with the addition of double cream and sherry.

Method

Scrub and/or peel all your vegetables (apart from the chestnuts) and place in a roasting tray with a little olive oil and seasoning and roast at 180oC for around 35mins or until caramelized and golden.

Heat your stock in a saucepan adding your roasted vegetables (you should have around 220g following roasting) and the chestnuts and bring to the boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 15mins.

Remove from the heat and use a hand blender or liquidizer to blitz the soup till its smooth and velvety (if you are using a table top liquidizer be careful to cool the soup properly before blending).

Return the smooth soup to a clean saucepan and bring gently up to the boil.

Remove from the heat and add the double cream and sherry.

Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary and serve with some crumbled crispy bacon, some croutons and a splash of very good quality extra virgin olive oil like our Podere Fonte Cristiano from Umbria.

Serves 6 as a Christmas Day starter.