mushroom and chestnut soup - drizzled with white truffle oil

Ahh.. Tartufo Bianco.

You make any meal a mind blowing experience.

I love you.

We love you.

We worship you.

I'm so excited to share this recipe with you.

The earthy tones of the mushrooms combined with the sweetness of the chestnuts make for the perfect winter warming soup.

Not to mention the truffle oil.

The first time we tried this tasty tasty artisans dream, was in a tiny little town called Motovun in Croatia.

Walking down the cobbled streets sampling all the free taste testers they had available was a treat.

No way could we afford to buy any of the produce, but we did.

It was really the beginning of the end for us.

Motovun, Croatia

We bought the White Truffle infused oil and kept it in our van for the nights our mediocre meals needed some spicing up.

Following on from this experience when we continued our travels into Italy, we were able to stock up on more oil and even attended a White Truffle (Tartufo Bianco) festival.

White Truffle oil is now a staple in our kitchen.

Ingredients

(serves 4-6)

500 g chestnuts

250 g button mushrooms, sliced

1 medium leek, roughly sliced

2 chokos, diced

2 large cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

2 vegetable stock cubes

couple of pinches of salt to taste

water

white truffle oil

Turn oven to 200 degrees. Score each of the chestnuts with an 'x' and place on a baking tray in the oven to roast for 40-50 mins.

Remove from oven and cool.

Using a nut cracker, de-shell the chestnuts and put in a heavy based pot.

Add all other ingredients with enough water to cover the contents.

Boil for about 20-30 mins.

Remove from stove and cool.

Using a blender, blend all ingredients until smooth.

Return to stove and warm through.

Serve - drizzled with truffle oil, roasted chestnuts and chopped parsley.

Yummm. x