Every year our one tree gives us about a kilo of chestnuts. I start off loving them and by the end of the kilo, I’m over it.
This year after the first pick I decided to try them in a pesto. We have lots of garlic, Olive Oil and herbs all produced here, so as far as cheap and easy eats go, this was one of the best. Pesto is a staple in our fridge. Whether it’s one of the delicious Sabato made pestos or one we have made at home, it is an quick add to a meal to jazz it up.
The most important thing is to make sure the chestnuts are roasted properly and that all your digits are in place after you score through the outer casing of the nut. If you don’t cross the top of them, you will end up with an exploding chestnut in the oven and a huge mess. They also turn into little nuclear bombs likely to inflict pain by bursting on you.
Carefully cross the top of the chestnut with a sharp knife and your wits about you. The cross needs to be long enough that you can easily pull the shell off the chestnut once roasted. If it’s not, it can more fiddly than necessary. Roast in a hot oven until you can smell them and the shells have began to curl away. Whatever you do, let them cool!
I used a handful of the best herbs I could find which included parsley, oregano, chives and thyme. I also added some silverbeet for depth and colour and of course lots of vitamins and minerals and to smuggle green vegetables into my husband. The end result a delicious creamy garlic chestnut pesto!
Pesto
150g roasted and peeled chestnuts
3 cloves of peeled garlic
One cup of washed and finely chopped herbs and greens
1/4 cup hard cheese. (I used Grana as we didn’t have any Parmesan – WHAT!)
Salt
Good Quality Olive Oil about half a cup
Start with a big pestle and mortar. Bash the garlic with some olive oil and salt into a smooth paste. Chop the chestnuts into smaller pieces and bash around in the garlic mix.
Grate or finely chop the cheese – I prefer the adventure of getting a larger chunk of cheese in a good pesto, so just roughly chopped and bashed in the pestle.
Chop the herbs and greens down to a manageable size and add to the mix.
Keep adding the olive oil bit by bit and season to taste at the end. Depending on how you like your pesto, add oil to suit.
You can of course make this in a processor, it would just be smoother.
Rough chop pasta.
I’ve been making us a pasta dish once a week and this is a really simple one when you have little time.
100g 00 flour
1 fresh as possible egg.
On a clean smooth surface make a mountain with the flour and turn it into a volcano by making a big whole in the middle to add the egg. Mix the egg into the flour. I start using a fork and bring the flour into the egg initially and then get stuck in with my hands. Kneed the pasta into a smooth pliable dough and leave to rest under a bowl for at least 30 mins.
Depending on the humidity and the temperature, you might need a little olive oil in the dough. I don’t use water though.
Once the pasta has rested flour your surface and rolling pin and roll out. You can use a machine – I have given up as it ends up taking much more time unless you are wanting to create an even spaghetti or tagliatelle.
Roll the dough turning regularly, lightly flouring as you go if needed. To get a thinner pasta (this takes practise) roll the dough around the rolling pin, making sure there is sufficient flour to stop it sticking and roll the layers together. It provides a very even sheet of pasta. This was about 2 mm thick by the time I finished
Fold in half and in half again and chop into strands. Gently open up with your fingers and pop into salted boiling water.
It will take minutes to cook.
Drain, catching the last few drops of the cooking water in the saucepan. Add back the pasta and chestnut pesto and turn to combine.
Two things :
1. If you haven’t discovered Pasta Grannies on Facebook, you need to. Just watching their intuitive handling of the dough has been a wonderful learning experience.
2. This is a really rough recipe and it worked for this garlic loving household. Experiment and make it work for you. It’s I’d had my way I would have added chilli to the chestnut pesto, but the husband said no!
If you are a fan of chestnuts, check out this delicious ice cream recipe
