Creamy Chestnut & Sweet Potato Soup

I am loving making pureed soups with my new immersion blender! And with all the snow we have been getting (some of my friends will tell you we have not been getting enough), they are a perfect start to any meal. The most recent one I made is this Chestnut & Sweet Potato soup. I had a pack of precooked chestnuts from Trader Joe's that needed using up. And I also had cream left from making a Polenta Gratin.

Here is the quick version of it: I chopped up the chestnuts, a small onion, three cloves of garlic, two small Japanese Sweet Potatoes, one stick of carrot. All of these were sauteed in butter + olive oil in my soup pot, and boiled with some water and salt & pepper. I also added 1 cup of vegetable stock, a pinch of dried Italian seasoning. Once the vegetables were completely cooked, they were pureed. I then added a little more stock and 1/2 cup cream to get the consistency I like. The garnish were crunchy carrot ribbons fried in butter and peppered cashews. Now I am ready for more creamy chestnuts with other root vegetables & different types of squashes!