Chestnuts French

I’ve never met one person who doesn’t like chestnuts! Chestnuts are so versatile, used in sweet to savoury dishes. They also pack a nice nutritional punch.

Did you know that chestnuts, unlike other nuts and seeds, are relatively low in calories; contain less fat but are rich in minerals, vitamins and phytonutrients that benefit health? Oui!

Here’s some information that you can really sink your teeth into For every 100 grams of chestnuts you get: 8.1 grams of dietary fibre, 43 mg of vitamin C, 518 mg of potassium, 11% of niacin, 29% of vitamin B-6, 100% of thiamin, and 12% of riboflavin and they’re gluten-free!

So having gathered your chestnuts or bought them from Leons, you will want to know how to cook chestnuts in order to enjoy them.

1. They can be cooked on an open fire but you have to be careful as they will explode. So to prevent this make a slit in the chestnut with a sharp knife before cooking them and cut through to the fleshy nut inside.

You will need a special roasting pan for roasting them on the fire which has a long handle and it has holes in the bottom. Another good idea is to use a popcorn popper with a lid, so if they burst you will not get any hot bits flying out at you! They will take about 20 minutes to cook.

2. The easiest method I think is to cook them in the oven on a baking tray and you will simply slit them and pop them on the tray for about 20 minutes in the oven and they will be so good everyone will want to peel their own to eat there and then.

3. Chestnuts can also be boiled and this is a good method if you want a chestnut purée for use in a recipe.

To cook in this manner, simply wash the chestnut under running water and cut in half. Check for any signs of worms as often you will find them in fresh fruits, shows they are organic! Pop them in a pan of water, bring to boil and simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes. When cooked, remove the shells and when cool they can be used as you want.