How to Make Soup Recipes With Nuts

Nuts might not be the first ingredient when you think about soup recipes but they can greatly enhance the look, flavor, and texture of a soup. Pecans, peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts and chestnuts are just some of the nuts you can use to make delicious soup recipes. You can use whole, halved, or chopped nuts in soups, or you can grind the nuts into a powder for thickening and flavoring your soup.

A chestnut, bean, and celery soup would make a hearty lunch or a flavorful and warming appetizer. Maybe you fancy a Spanish style celery and garlic soup with ground almonds, cream, and mace. Ground pecans would be tasty added to a vegetable soup, along with some soy sauce, ginger, and nutmeg for flavoring.

You can even make sweet soup recipes with nuts, such as chocolate and hazelnut soup. Simmer it with some egg yolks to thicken it and add cream to give the soup a luxurious flavor and make this a winning dessert. If you enjoy sweet entree recipes, what about using some chopped hazelnuts or almonds to garnish a homemade canned pumpkin soup recipe? Pumpkin has a sweet or savory flavor, depending how it is cooked and what dish you make with it.

Toasting and Roasting Nuts

You can toast nuts or use them raw. To toast nuts for soup recipes, simply spread them over a baking sheet and bake for about fifteen minutes, turning the nuts a few times, until they are fragrant. Then you can coarsely chop them and add them to your recipe.

Toasted pecans work well as the main ingredient in a soup. Combine them with chicken broth, onion, sherry, cinnamon, thyme and other aromatic flavors for a gourmet appetizer soup.

To roast chestnuts, make an X shaped cut on the underside and arrange them on a baking sheet, cut side upwards. Add a little water to the baking sheet and cook the chestnuts for about twenty minutes in a 350 degrees F oven, or until they are brown, tender and the skin is peeling back from the flesh. You can boil the chestnuts to make them easier to peel but you will be sacrificing nutrients and flavor if you do that.

Recipe for Peanut Soup Creole Style

The following recipe uses peanut butter for a nutty taste and this makes enough soup for six servings. Use a sugar free peanut butter to make this, for the best results.

What you will need:

1/4 cup flour
2 minced onions
1/4 cup butter
8 cups chicken broth
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 pint heavy cream
3 chopped cloves garlic
2 chopped Anaheim chilies or similar
1 cup shredded chicken (optional)
Fresh chopped cilantro or parsley, for garnish
Scallions or peanuts, for garnish
Salt and black pepper, to tasteHow to make it:

Saute the garlic, chilies, and onion in the butter until the onions are tender. Stir in the flour, then the broth, whisking the mixture if you get lumps. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook it for half an hour. Stir in the cream, peanut butter, and chicken and bring the soup back to a simmer. Garnish with the cilantro or parsley, and the scallions or peanuts.

See Also : Cabbage Recipe