Let’s use up… Chestnuts
We all like to save waste after Christmas. When you’ve run out of turkey sandwiches you might try making something with any chestnuts you forgot to roast. If peasants in mediaeval Europe put them in their bread, what else could they be used for?
Chestnut’s are as diverse as peanuts in cooking. They are also safe to eat for those with peanut and treenut allergies, residing in a different botanical category altogether.
What are chestnuts?
Larousse Gastronomique defines them as “The fruit of the chestnut tree. Their spikey hulk generally contains three separated chestnuts.” Chestnuts arrived in Britain with the Romans. After they left chestnuts became a staple in the diet of ordinary people who couldn’t legally gain access to meat everyday, before the nobility took note of their flavour and used them to make stuffing’s to enrich their banqueting tables which had plenty of meat and fish. Today chestnuts barely get a look in, emerging once a year as part of a Christmas tradition.
But Corsica, Sardinia, the Massif Central and parts of Northern Italy enjoy them regularly, whilst the French produce and export them to the world. They are energy rich and highly nutritious. Chestnuts contain a high proportion of starch, together with potassium and vitamins B and C. When buying you should look for heavy chestnuts with a firm, shiny shell as a guarantee of quality.
We all love them roasted and peeled, but I went looking for exciting recipes that celebrate this earthy treat and ended up in a rabbit hole. Here’s what I came up with…
Marron Glace
Like cashews and peanuts, chestnuts have been sweetened in the West since sugar was introduced as an offshoot of the crusades. Like a lot of food history, a neverending dispute continues, this time between Italy and France about who took the Marron Chestnut, the sweeter and larger of the two chestnut varieties, and added a sugar glaze. This recipe from Delicious magazine is a simple version of what the sugar consuming elite were doing with chestnuts in either Italy or France as far back as the 15th Century.
Blanch 500g fresh chestnuts in boiling water for 4 minutes, drain, then peel while still warm.
Bring 300g caster sugar and 300ml water to the boil in a heavy-based pan to make a syrup. Simmer for 10 minutes, then add the chestnuts and simmer for 7-8 minutes.Take off the heat and leave to stand overnight in the syrup.
The next day, bring the chestnuts/syrup back to the boil, cook for 1 minute, then remove from the heat and cool. Repeat the boiling and cooling process 2 or 3 times over the next couple of days until all the syrup is absorbed.
Preheat the oven to around 70°C, spread the candied chestnuts on a tray covered with baking paper, then pop into the oven. Prop open the door and leave for 2 hours or until firm
Chestnut Hummus
We know hummus as that Arabic and Greek dish formed of cooked chickpeas crushed with tahini and seasoned with garlic and lemon. You can make it with roasted red pepper, and smokey sweet potato, even carrot hummus is delicious, but did you know how similar the maroon chestnut is to the chickpea? Here’s a recipe from Good Food for chestnut hummus!
Take one chestnut from a 180g pack and set aside. Tip the rest of the chestnuts into a blender or smoothie maker with the juice of 1 lemon, 1 clove of garlic and 4 tbsp of olive oil, with a little freshly boiled water from the kettle. Season. Blitz to a smooth puree then spoon into a bowl or spread over 4 plates.
Finely grate over the reserved chestnut, then serve with pitta crisps and vegetable crudités.
Chestnut Cupcakes
Delia recommends this recipe for those who don’t like fruitcake, and it’s full of festive, indulgent ingredients. However, you need this to make it: Creme de Marrons. If you’ve never heard of this canned chestnut cream, it’s because outside of France it just doesn’t get used. Inside of France it is a pastry staple. They use the cracked and broken bits of chestnut they couldn’t turn into candy to make it so nothing gets wasted. This recipe is from deliaonline.com
Whip 150g creme de marrons with 110g of very soft butter until pale and fluffy.
Add 2 beaten eggs, a little at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition.
Sift 110g of chestnut flour and 1.5 teaspoons of baking powder into the mixture. Fold half of the dry mixture into the wet mixture, then add 4 tablespoons of milk, then combine everything.
Divide evenly among 8 muffin cases, and bake at 170°C on the centre shelf of your oven for 35-40 minutes, or until springy in the centre.
When the cakes have cooled, make the topping by mixing 100g creme de marrons with 200g mascarpone and spread it over each cake, before decorating each one with 3 slices of marron glace and a light dusting of icing sugar.
Bonus Round: Chestnut and Duck Fat Sourdough.
I couldn’t not include a bread recipe. This loaf is rich as it is compact, but I found that one slice keeps you full, and the smell of the shallots and chestnuts is a bit special.
Melt 75g of duck fat in a saucepan and add 2 minced shallots, continuing to cook until they sizzle. Remove from the heat. Stir in 200g of finely grated chestnuts and let them cool until just warm.
Combine 500g of strong bread flour with 1 ½ teaspoons of salt. In a separate bowl mix 300g of water with 1 ¼ teaspoons of yeast and 200g rye sourdough starter. Add the flour and salt mix and combine. Rest for 10 minutes.
Add the chestnut and shallot mixture, squeezing it with your hands. Rest the dough for another 10 minutes.
Flatten the dough on your bench until it has the shape of a pizza base. In a round-the-clock motion, fold the edges of the dough into the centre. Then flip it over and tighten it with your hands. Return it to the bowl and rest for 1 hour in a warm place.
Shape the dough into batons, place in your proving baskets and rest for another 2 hours.
Bake at 218°C for 45 minutes.