Gesztenyekrémleves

Ingredients

• 10½ ozchestnut puréecooked and peeled, or as unsweetened purée
• 7 ozsmoked bacondiced, rendered until crisp for topping
• 1onionfinely chopped
• 1carrotgrated, a little finely diced for garnish
• 2celerystalks, grated or finely chopped
• 2 clovesgarlicchopped or sliced
• 2 tspthymeleaves
• 4¼ cupsstockchicken or vegetable stock
• ⅔ cupCreamstirred in after blending
• 1⅓ ozbuttercold, stirred in at the end
• 1 tbspolive oilfor sautéing or drizzling
• saltto taste
• pepperground, white or black
• 1bay leafsimmer, remove before blending (optional)
• 1 tsprosemaryneedles (optional)
• 2⅔ tbspcalvadosto deglaze the chestnuts (optional)
• ½ tspnutmegfreshly grated, just before serving (optional)

Method

1. Render bacon, prep the garnishDice the smoked bacon and render it slowly in a large pot over low heat until crisp. Lift it out with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the fat in the pot. Cut a small piece of carrot and a little celery into very fine dice and set them aside for the garnish.
2. Soften the vegetablesAdd the finely chopped onion, grated carrot and the rest of the celery to the bacon fat, or use the olive oil, and soften over medium heat for 5–7 minutes without letting them colour. Season with salt, pepper and thyme, and add the rosemary needles now if you're using them.
3. Add the garlicStir in the garlic and cook for 1–2 minutes, until it smells fragrant but hasn't browned.
4. Add chestnuts and deglazeTip in the chestnuts and toss them briefly with the vegetables. If you're using calvados, pour it in now to deglaze and let it bubble for a moment until the alcohol has cooked off.
5. Simmer in the stockPour in the stock, add the bay leaf if you like, and let everything simmer gently for 15–20 minutes, until the chestnuts are completely soft.
6. Blend until smoothFish out the bay leaf and blitz the soup with a stick blender until it's perfectly smooth.
7. Enrich with creamStir in the cream and let the soup sit just below a simmer for about 5 minutes; it shouldn't boil again from here on.
8. Stir in butter and seasonTake the pot off the heat and stir in the cold butter a few pieces at a time until the soup turns glossy. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and grate over a little fresh nutmeg if you fancy it.
9. Garnish and serveLadle the soup into bowls while it's hot, scatter over the crispy bacon and the reserved diced vegetables, and finish with a thin thread of olive oil.

Tips and variations

For a vegetarian version, use vegetable stock and skip the bacon – fried mushrooms or chives make a lovely topping instead. The soup is just as good warm as it is cooled down. If you've got a sweet tooth, chestnut soup also works as a dessert: thickened with milk and custard powder, sweetened with honey, sugar, vanilla sugar and cinnamon, studded with rum-soaked raisins and served with whipped cream. There's also a no-cook cold version, where chestnut purée is blended with milk, cream, honey, cinnamon and rum, then served with dried cranberries soaked in red wine and some puff pastry bites on the side. Another take passes whole cooked chestnuts through a sieve, sweats them with butter and flour, and finishes them with sweet white wine, sugar and an egg yolk and cream liaison, spiced with cinnamon. Serving tip: add the bacon and diced veg right before serving so everything stays crisp.