Beautiful Chestnut

The chestnut, with its rich vitamins and minerals, has a refined flavor that can enhance both the tastes of a main course and pastry. Here are 3 recipes to warm up your winter.

Chestnut Soup

-For 6. Average. Preparation: 20 minutes.

-Cooking time: 20 minutes.

-600 g of chestnut puree. 500 g of chestnuts peeled and cut in half. 1 liter and a half of chicken stock. 1 small piece of parsley finely chopped. 30 cl of thick liquid cream. A pinch of salt. A pinch of nutmeg. 4 to 6 slices of bread.
Put chicken stock over medium heat. Pour over the chestnut purée. Mix well, then pour the liquid cream. Stir well and lower the temperature of the fire. Add the salt and nutmeg, then the chestnuts cut in half (set some aside for decoration). Simmer and stir. When the consistency becomes thick, remove from the heat. Place slices of bread in the bottom of the soup tureen or in the 6 plates and pour the soup. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and decorate with a few pieces of chestnuts.

-Tip: Scrape a clove of garlic on the breads for a better flavor.

Chicken legs with chestnuts and apricots

-For 6. Average. Preparation: 15 minutes.

-Cooking time: 80 to 90 minutes.

-6 medium-sized chicken thighs. 50 g of chestnuts peeled and cut into large pieces. 20 dried apricots. 10 potatoes. 6 to 7 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Mustard. A pinch of salt. A touch of laurel and wild thyme. Some water.

-Cut the potatoes into large pieces and set aside. Mix in oil, salt, bay leaves and wild thyme. Put aside. Coat an oven plate with oil, put the chicken legs on it. Brush them with mustard. Coat the thighs with the mixture of oil and herbs. Sprinkle the potatoes around the thighs. Pour a little water to cover them. Bake at 180°C (th 5-6). Monitor and turn the thighs 2 to 3 times. As soon as they begin to brown, after about 60 minutes, add the chestnuts and apricots to the surface of the chicken legs and cook for a few minutes.

-Tip: Apricots can be replaced with prunes.

Tagliatelle with chestnuts

-for 6. Easy. Preparation: 40 minutes.

-Cooking time: 30 to 35 minutes.

-2 packs of pasta. 4 tablespoons of olive oil + 1 tablespoon of olive oil to cook pasta. 2 medium-sized onions. 2 balls of mozzarella di buffala cut into small pieces. 500 g of diced and seeded tomatoes. 50 g of chestnuts cut into small pieces. 1 pinch of sea salt. 3 garlic cloves, minced. 1 pinch of pepper. A few chopped fresh basil leaves.

-In a large wok pan, put oil over medium heat. Add the pinch of coarse salt and the minced garlic cloves. Add the diced tomato, onions and pepper and cook for 5 minutes over high heat. Then simmer them for 10 minutes on low heat. Add the chestnuts and cook for another 5 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large volume of boiling salted water, with a spoonful of olive oil. Drain the tagliatelle, and at the same time add the mozzarella, as well as the tomatoes. Let warm for another 2 minutes over low heat. Decorate with chopped basil and serve.

-Tip: you can add diced eggplants and courgettes to raise the sauce.

For the rest of the article, check our December 2016 issue.