Since buying my Instant Pot a few months ago, I haven’t made soup on the stove a single time. Instant Pot soup is easy, fast and I have yet to make something that didn’t taste great! But, of course, if you don’t have an Instant Pot you can easily do this on the stove – the only difference will be cooking time.
While I’ve made cauliflower soup tons of times, I’d never added chestnuts before; I’d read that they help ensure a smooth, creamy texture once the soup is pureed, without the need for cream. I’m happy to report that it worked beautifully! The chestnuts themselves lend only a very mild flavor, so if you’re unsure whether you’ll like it, go for it – you won’t regret it.
These recipes were part of my small dinner party on New Year’s Eve…check out this post for my tips on pulling off entertaining like a pro! I also made Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter and Creamy Chocolate Ice Cream.
Instant Pot Cauliflower Chestnut Soup
A creamy, comforting cumin-spiced cauliflower soup made even smoother by the addition of chestnuts.
Ingredients
- 1 tsp olive oil
- ½ medium onion finely chopped
- 1 celery rib halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander, sumac, turmeric or garam masala I used Penzey’s Singapore Seasoning blend which contains lemon peel, coriander, cumin and turmeric among other things
- 1 large cauliflower washed and cut into 2-inch chunks (feel free to include the stalks, as long as they’re peeled)
- 1 c roasted, peeled chestnuts (either fresh or packaged) chopped roughly
- 1 tsp salt
- 6 c water
- To serve: Lemon Zest Croutons
- To serve: splash of white balsamic or apple cider vinegar
Instructions
Instant Pot directions:
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Add olive oil to the inner pot and turn it on to sauté. Once heated, add the onion, celery and spices, and cook, stirring frequently, until onion and celery have softened a bit and the spices are no longer dry – about 3 minutes.
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Add the cauliflower, chestnuts, salt and water, stirring to combine and loosen any fond from the bottom of the pot. Press Cancel to stop sautéing, and then press Soup (high pressure), adjusting the time down to 8 minutes. Put on the lid with the pressure vent in sealing position; it will take about 10 minutes to come to pressure.
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Once the 8 minutes is up, turn the valve to use a Quick Release to depressurize the Instant Pot (I always like to hold a thick towel around the valve – not blocking it – to capture any water or minor splutters that might happen) and remove the lid.
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Turn off and unplug the Instant Pot, and use an immersion blender to puree the soup until perfectly smooth with no chunks, blending in about 10-15 second bursts – this should take no more than a few minutes to get to the right consistency. You can also use a regular blender, but be careful not to overfill since the soup will be incredibly hot.
Stovetop directions:
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In a large saucepan, follow same initial steps of sautéing the onion and celery with spices first, and then adding cauliflower, chestnuts, salt and water.
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With the lid on, bring to a boil and then maintain a simmer for 20 minutes; it’s ready when the cauliflower is slightly beyond fork tender, nearly mashing when using the back of a spoon or fork – this will ensure a smooth consistency when pureed.
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Follow same instructions as above for pureeing the soup.
To serve, swirl a few drops of vinegar (white balsamic and apple cider vinegar both work well here) in each bowl and top with a few Lemon Zest Croutons. The touch of acidity provided by the vinegar adds a brightness which really brings out the flavors; this trick works with most soups – but it shouldn’t be added until it’s served.
Lemony Croutons
Acts as a perfect salty, lemony, chewy garnish for 6-8 bowls of soup.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2" slices of crusty bread I had a homemade loaf of No Knead bread that I made with leftover whey from making yogurt in my Instant Pot…that’s a whole separate post!
- Zest of 1/2 lemon
- 1 tbsp good quality olive oil
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
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Preheat a toaster oven or regular oven to 350 degrees. On a cutting board, stack the two bread slices on top of each other, cut the bread in half lengthwise then slice the bread 4-5 times across, so you end up with ~16-20 bread cubes. You want the croutons to be substantial enough to add texture, so use your judgement on how many cuts to make depending on the bread you have.
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Zest half a lemon into a small bowl.
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Add the bread cubes to the bowl and top with the tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper, tossing with your hands to coat.
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Spread the croutons on a foil-lined baking sheet, making sure to scrape all remaining zest, salt and pepper out of the bowl, and bake until the croutons are starting to brown around the edges but are still chewy and not dry, shaking the pan one time halfway through. In my toaster oven, this took about 10 minutes, but I suspect in a regular oven or in a larger batch it could be even quicker.