Stewed Chestnuts With Ricotta Recipes

STEWED CHESTNUTS WITH RICOTTA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread chestnuts in a roasting pan and roast until lightly golden, about 25 minutes.
• Transfer to a deep, heavy pot. Cover with cold water, and add fennel, celery, bay leaves and a pinch of salt. Place over medium heat and simmer until the chestnuts are very soft but still whole, about 25 minutes. Drain cooking liquid and reserve. Discard fennel, celery and bay leaves.
• Stir cream and butter into chestnuts, adding reserved cooking liquid if mixture is very thick. Gently reheat on a low burner, then transfer to a warm serving platter. Top with the ricotta and sprinkle with salt and the chopped fennel and celery tops.

CHESTNUT CREPES WITH SWEET RICOTTA

Steps:

• Combine the chestnut flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine, making sure there are no clumps. Whisk in the eggs and milk, whisking until smooth.
• Heat a 6-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add half the oil.
• Ladle enough batter into the pan to coat the bottom, swirling as you go to keep the crepe thin. Cook just until set and the sides begin to curl, 1 to 2 minutes. Carefully flip the crepe and cook the other side until lightly browned, about 30 seconds longer. Transfer the crepe to a plate and continue making crepes with the remaining batter, adding more oil to the pan as needed.
• Place 2 to 3 tablespoons ricotta in each crepe and roll up like a cigar to enclose the ricotta. Drizzle each crepe with honey and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

ROASTED CHESTNUTS

Steps:

• Place chestnuts in a medium skillet set over medium heat. Roast, shaking pan occasionally, until chestnuts split open, 6 to 10 minutes.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE & CHESTNUT PASTA

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large frying pan, and fry the onion for 5 mins. Once starting to soften, add the sausagemeat and chestnuts, and fry for another 10-12 mins, breaking the meat up with a wooden spatula or spoon as you fry it. Keep the heat quite high and stir often.
• When the meat and chestnuts are golden brown, add the garlic, rosemary and fennel seeds, and cook for 2 mins more. Splash in the wine, let most of it boil away, then tip in the passata. Cover and simmer the sauce for 10 mins while you boil the pasta in plenty of salted water, following pack instructions.
• Reserve a cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta well. Toss the pasta, 3 tbsp of the water, the ragu and most of the parsley together, then season to taste. Share between bowls, add a grinding of black pepper, the remaining parsley, then a handful of Parmesan shavings.