Ingredients
Boil the chestnuts in 750ml of water in a 2.5-litre-sized pan for approximately one hour, so that by the time they are done they’ve absorbed all the water. Roughly mash half the chestnuts with a fork, then pour in the milk and add the rice when it starts to boil. Add salt and cook for 15 minutes, stirring often to stop the soup from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Should the soup end up too thick, add a bit more milk. When done, this soup should be fairly thick and creamy and it is best to wait a quarter of an hour at least before serving it. Just before it is removed from the heat, it is usually flavoured with a knob of butter.
Some advice: mashing or sieving half the chestnuts makes the soup creamier; the same soup can be prepared using fresh chestnuts, in which case double the amount of chestnuts, peeling them either when raw or after boiling them.