Boiled Chestnuts
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Loading...To prepare boiled chestnuts I informed myself: web is full of tutorials dedicated to such a important and delicate topic ... I'm serious! I had never boiled chestnuts before (my mother used to do it when I was a kid, but at that time I didn't like chestnuts) and I thought that a lot of information was a bit complex, twisted, that made something very simple complicated. I was wrong: boiled chestnuts are not easy to make and I made many mistakes: my chestnuts were overcooked, broke into a thousand pieces and only a few remained whole and beautiful. This is why I will tell you about my mistakes and I beg you, with all my heart, to be less presumptuous than me and to listen to me!
Ingredients
- Chestnuts 500gr
- Water
- Bay Leaves 3
Instructions
Wash the chestnuts and remove any residues. Let them rest in water for a couple of hours. This step can be avoided if your chestnuts have just been picked from the tree, but if you bought them at the supermarket it is likely that the outer skin is very dry.
Get a pointed and very sharp small knife with which you will make an incision on the chestnut's "belly", the rounded part. The incision does not have to be deep, you have to be so accurate to only affects the husk and the thin skin. In addition, the cut should be wide, go from one side to the other. I advise you not to sink the knife perpendicularly so as not to damage the pulp, but to try to lift the peel as much as possible, cutting at 45 °.
If you have a pressure cooker, fill it with chestnuts, add plenty of water, a few bay leaves and cook 20 minutes from the whistle. If you use a normal pot you will have to wait twice as long.
As soon as they are cooked, collect the chestnut boilers in a colander and start peeling them immediately, when they are still hot (a little torture for your fingertips) so that the peel and skin come off more easily.
The boiled chestnuts are excellent warm, or they can be used for meat filling or for a nice soup, after being blended with other vegetables and vegetable broth
ItalianCookingTips
You have to cut the chestnuts on the belly, with a long but not deep cut, which affects the peel and the skin but does not enter too much into the pulp
ItalianCookingTips
Do not boil chestnuts too much: 40 minutes with a normal pot, 20 with the pressure cooker which is perfect for this preparation. Add a few bay leaves for flavor
ItalianCookingTips
Boiled chestnuts must be peeled immediately, when they are still hot and the peel is soft and moist, if you let them cool it will be much more difficult
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