Roasted Chesnuts
Fall is here and the leaves have started changing color. In Slovenia one of the most popular fall treats are chestnuts (roasted or cooked). As a child, kostanjev piknik or chestnut picnic was one of my favorite events of the school year. Precisely once every fall we would go for a short hike to the Savinja river, make a fire there, roast chestnuts, fill up the newspaper cones that we made ourselves with them and then eat as many as our stomachs would allow.
In Slovenia two species of chestnut exist — sweet chestnuts and horse chestnuts. Sweet chestnuts are harvested for consumption and are a real delicacy, whereas horse chestnuts are not edible. However, if moths are munching their way through your winter wardrobe then horse chestnuts could be a solution as they contain a chemical called triterpenoid saponin that wards off moths. Horse chestnut also has medicinal properties, for example, horse chestnut ointments help relieve painful varicose veins, reduce fluid retention, etc.
Below you can find two recipes: one for roasting chestnuts at home in a pan, and another for roasting them over open fire.
Recipe
Ingredients:
1 kg chestnuts
perforated frying pan (over open fire) or standard frying pan
Instructions for roasting in a pan:
Cut a vertical line onto each chestnut with a sharp knife. It should be just deep enough to penetrate the hard shell. Do not cut into the flesh of the chestnut.
Heat the standard pan for roasting chestnuts.
Place enough chestnuts into the heated pan to cover the bottom. Do not overcrowd. Bake covered for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the chestnuts are baked evenly on all sides.
Place the roasted chestnuts on a paper newspaper, wrap it tightly and wait for 5 minutes. In the meantime make a cone out of paper. Transfer chestnuts into the cone and enjoy immediately, as they are best while they are still hot.
Instructions for roasting chestnuts over an open fire pit:
Place a few handfuls of kindling in the center of the fire pit. You can use crumpled newspaper or small sticks.
Use matches or a lighter to ignite the kindling.
As the fire grows, add larger logs to keep it burning.
Cut a vertical line onto each chestnut with a sharp knife. It should be just deep enough to penetrate the hard shell. Do not cut into the flesh of the chestnut.
Place the perforated pan over the fire and enough chestnuts into the pan to cover the bottom. Do not overcrowd. After 5 minutes in the pan over the embers, begin to stir the chestnuts.
Stir occasionally for an additional 5 – 7 minutes. Remove from the fire.
Place the roasted chestnuts on a paper newspaper, wrap it tightly and wait for 5 minutes. In the meantime make a cone out of paper. Transfer chestnuts into the cone and enjoy immediately, as they are best while they are still hot.
