German Chestnut Soup

I've been wanting to make German chestnut soup ever since hearing friends and family saying how good this soup is in Germany.  I've never had a chance to have it there, so I have no idea how authentic this is, but the version I made is from two separate recipes, and they are both supposed to be German recipes.

I think the soup is supposed to be a little thicker than mine, but I chose to add more broth so it wasn't super-thick.  Also, I used vacuum-packed, cooked and peeled chestnuts I found at Aldi.  I LOVED using them; just open a package and dump them into the pot with the other ingredients.  I ended up using 3 packages.  I took a pic of the package so I could remember how many grams total I used, but I somehow lost those pics.  So I don't know- but a little more or less than the recipe states can't hurt.

German Chestnut Soup
adapted from here and here

1 Tbsp. butter

1 medium onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped
1 cup celery root, diced (OR celery stalks, sliced)
20 (more or less) ounces chestnuts (fresh, canned,  frozen or vacuum-pakced) or 1 can chestnut puree
1.5 liters chicken broth or stock (about 6 cups)
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pinch cayenne pepper (if you like it spicy, use more)
½ cup whipping cream
8 slices bacon (optional)
¼ cup cream (optional)

parsley

If you have fresh chestnuts, first prepare them:
Cut an X in the flat side of each chestnut. Place the chestnuts into a large pot filled with water and bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes, then remove chestnuts from the pot. Allow to cool slightly, then peel outer shell and brown skin (brown skin can’t be peeled when too cold).

1.  Heat the butter in a skillet.  Sauté the onion, carrot and celery for a minute, add the chestnuts and sauté together another minute or two.

2.  Add the broth, bay leaf, some pepper and cayenne pepper.  Simmer on low heat for 25 minutes, until celery and chestnuts are tender.

3.  In the meantime cut bacon in small pieces and fry them until crumbly. (Can cook in the microwave on a plate lined with paper towels.)

4.  After 25 min. remove the bay leaf, and add ½ cup cream to the soup.  Puree the soup using an immersion blender, and add salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste.  Make sure you puree really well- this soup took longer for me to puree than the usual tomato or something else.  The chestnuts are quite big and need a bit more work to puree.  

5.  Serve soup with cream to drizzle on top and bacon and parsley for a garnish.  

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