With the first colds the time for chestnuts arrives: who doesn't go crazy with the idea of enjoying a plate of steaming roasted chestnuts? Or, how did our grandmothers, to eat them boiled in a glass of milk? Loved by adults and children, chestnuts are an ingredient increasingly present in our kitchen, turned into cream to fill cakes or crumbled into a sophisticated risotto. Below are our suggestions for bringing them to the table.
Croutons of black bread with lard and chestnuts
It is a fast and tasty appetizer. Boil 300 g of chestnuts; when they are ready, cook them in a saucepan with a knob of butter and some rosemary needles. Meanwhile, grill the slices of black bread and place a slice of lard on each, better if D'Arnad. Add the rosemary-scented chestnuts and garnish with a drizzle of chestnut honey. Serve with freshly grilled hot bread.
Sheet with chestnut cream and scamorza
It is an appetizing finger food. Boil 250 g of chestnuts and when they are ready clean them and remove the skin. Blend them by adding a few drops of milk, until they form a soft cream. With the help of a spoon or a sàc a few spread on each sheet of crackers, the chestnut cream. Meanwhile cook the smoked scamorza, cut into slices, in a saucepan with a little oil. When it is well colored and not yet steaming, remove it with the help of a spatula, place it over each pastry and decorate with chopped fresh pine nuts. Serve immediately.
Cream of chestnuts and potatoes with crispy pancetta
Cut a leek into thin slices, fry it in a pan with a little olive oil and after 500 minutes add 500 g of peeled and diced potatoes. Cook for 30 minutes, adding a ladle of broth from time to time.
Meanwhile, slice the pancetta into strips and sauté in a non-stick pan without any seasoning until it has become crispy.
Add to the ready-made potatoes 12 boiled chestnuts without peel, mix the mixture with a blender and add salt. If the cream is too thick you can add a ladle of broth. At this point, serve the velouté with crispy pancetta cubes, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and two minced rosemary needles.
Lentil and chestnut soup
Typical recipe of Abruzzo tradition, this dish embodies the flavors and colors of autumn. First boil 100 g of chestnuts, peel them and crumble them. In the meantime, rinse the lentils and put them to boil in a pot of water for about 30 minutes with a handful of salt. Fry in a saucepan a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, a chopped celery stalk, an onion cut into thin slices, a clove of garlic and a package of peeled tomatoes. After 5 minutes add the lentils with their cooking water, the boiled chestnuts and a rennet apple cut into small pieces. Cook for 10 minutes over high heat. When cooked, add chopped parsley and serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Rabbit stuffed with chestnuts
Take an already boned rabbit and cut it in half. Meanwhile, place 120 g of already boiled and peeled chestnuts in a pan with a knob of butter, a shallot cut into pieces and let simmer for 10 minutes. When they are cooked, chop them coarsely and mix them with an egg, a pinch of salt, pepper and a few sprigs of chopped rosemary. Spread the mixture over half of the rabbit saddle, overlap the other half and tie everything with string. Place the stuffed rabbit on a greased baking dish, cover with aluminum foil and bake at 180 ° for 40 minutes. Eliminate the aluminum after 20 minutes. Finally, take the meat out of the oven and let it rest. Dilute the cooking sauce with half a ladle of water on the heat and then filter. Serve the rabbit cut into round slices with its sauce and a little oil.
Mortadella and chestnut meatballs
Easy and tasty recipe. Finely chop half an onion with some parsley, basil, sage and rosemary leaves. Meanwhile boil 15 chestnuts in abundant salted water. Peel them and crumble them roughly. In a bowl, cut 300 g of mortadella into small pieces, add 300 g of ground beef and 300 g of sausage without the skin. Add an egg, the crumbled chestnuts, a tablespoon of Parmesan cheese and a couple of slices of bread in a box soaked in milk and squeezed. Add the chopped herbs and season with pepper.
Make small meatballs with your hands and brown them in a pan with extra virgin olive oil and chopped celery and carrot. If the dough is too liquid, add a tablespoon of breadcrumbs.
When the meatballs are golden, add a glass of white wine.
Tasty salad
It can be a delicate side dish or a single dish. Take some songino, finely slice half fennel and a rennet apple. Put everything in a bowl, add a handful of roasted, peeled and crumbled chestnuts, chopped almonds and thinly sliced dried apricots.
Crumble some dry bread, put it in a pan with a little oil and two cloves of garlic. Brown the bread and add it to the other ingredients. Season with oil, salt and lemon and serve.
Small chestnut pudding
Boil half a kilogram of chestnuts in water for 25 minutes, drain, peel and shake. You can also use already cooked and vacuum-packed chestnuts: in this case, halve the dose. Chop apart 50 gr of peeled almonds. Melt 100 g of salted butter in a saucepan. Shell the eggs and separate the yolks from the whites; add 140g of brown sugar to the yolks and whip until they become creamy. Stir in the melted butter, almonds and 50 g of sweet cocoa. Meanwhile whip the egg whites until stiff. Now add the blended chestnuts and egg whites to the mixture, being careful not to disassemble them. Pour the contents into small buttered molds, filling them 2/3. Bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove the puddings from the oven and serve with a tablespoon of liquid cream.
Chestnut strudel
Prepare the strudel paste according to the recipe (https://www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com/tutorial/le-tecniche/la-pasta-di-strudel), wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Whisk about 300 g of boiled chestnuts, add 50 g of shelled walnuts, a teaspoon of chopped ginger and one of cocoa. Stir and spread this filling in the center of the strudel paste spread. Fold the strudel dough and close it by brushing the edges with beaten yolk. Also close the two ends of the strudel and bake at 180 ° for about 40 minutes. Serve with cream ice cream.
Chocolate mousse in chestnut pastry
A really inviting and easy to prepare spoon dessert. First chop 350 g of dark chocolate in a saucepan with a tablespoon of water and cook over low heat. Add 125 g of icing sugar to the mixture and remove from the heat. Add 6 egg yolks and mix with the whisk until the mixture is homogeneous.
Whisk 4 egg whites separately and add them to the chocolate, making sure they do not come apart. At this point the mousse is ready to be placed in the refrigerator to cool for at least 3 hours.
Separately, beat 2 egg whites with the whisk for a few seconds, then stir in 30 g of 00 flour, 30 g of chestnut flour and 75 g of icing sugar. Mix well. Cover a baking sheet and distribute it over the batter with a spoon, forming 4 circles of 12 cm in diameter each.
Put in a preheated oven and brown. Then remove the waffles and place them on an inverted mold, bending them gently
to give them the shape of a small container. Repeat the operation with the rest of the batter. Serve the mousse inside the wafers and sprinkle with icing sugar.
