Chestnut Soup

I must say, first of all, that this is one of the best soups I have ever tasted. It's bouncing right up to the top. It simply is amazing. (Strangely, it tastes a little like chicken soup, but is so much better.)

The recipe is a suggestion from an old friend, and one that interested me as the main ingredient (chestnuts) is popular around this time of year, being sold by the bundle on street corners ^^ And the recipe intrigued me, as it contains bacon, so I had to try it immediately.

It's a fairly simple recipe, or it should be if you can find the ingredients. I didn't manage to find pre-cooked and pre-peeled chestnuts ("Merchant Gourmet Roasted and ready to use", where are you when I need you?) so bought a couple of bags of normal chestnuts instead. I took a guess, but 1kg turned out to be pretty perfectly near 600g once they'd all been peeled.

I'd also never cooked chestnuts before. After looking it up, I realised they could be boiled or roasted. Seeing as roasting sounded like the easier and tastier alternative, I went for that.

Roasting chestnuts is quite easy. They can explode when cooking so you need to make a horizontal line or cross on the shell with a knife before putting them in (I did the line, this worked perfectly). Then just put them on a tray with baking paper and stick them in a 200°C oven for 15-20 minutes. After they've softened up and have been given a few minutes to cool, just peel...

I shall warn you, this is a lengthy process, and took me quite a while. If you decide to take this route, you'll find in the end that this tasty, unique soup is most certainly worth the time! If you'd rather just chuck everything in a pot, save yourself an hour or so and get the pre-made ones.

Chestnut Soup

600g cooked, peeled chestnuts
1 red onion, chopped
1/2 head of celery (~3 large sticks), chopped
260g cubetti pancetta, or sliced strips of pancetta
1 clove garlic
Pinch of dried chillis
Small sprig of rosemary (or 1 tsp of dried rosemary)
1.35 litres of chicken stock

1. Heat a bit of oil in the pan and fry the onion and celery for a few minutes until softening. Add the pancetta and cook very slowly until the vegetables are caramelising and the pancetta is becoming crisp.

2. Add the crushed garlic, chilli and rosemary (finely chopped if fresh). Stir.

3. Next add the chestnuts. Break them up in the pan and fry for a few minutes, then add the stock.

4. Leave to simmer for 30 minutes, then liquidise.

Alternatives:
- I used vegetable stock instead of chicken stock. It's just as lovely.
- As I am for the most part vegetarian, I'll be looking for a veggie version sometime in the future. Any suggestions?