How to cook chestnuts - bake in the oven. Roasted chestnuts - a traditional French delicacy

The taste of chestnuts is legendary. For some, their taste is reminiscent of baked potatoes combined with nuts, others claim that the most delicious nuts are those that were collected in the fall, because they have so much sweetness! These fruits have found their use in cooking more than a century ago, and you can learn how to cook chestnuts from this article.

Many of us cannot even imagine what a pleasure it is to eat chestnuts. But in other countries they are served as an independent dish or used in the preparation of soups, side dishes and even desserts. If you dare to experiment with such an exotic nut, we will tell you how to cook it correctly. The main thing is to eat chestnuts hot, because when they cool down, they lose their unique taste.

The easiest way to prepare such fruits is simple frying in a frying pan. But before answering the question of how to fry chestnuts, you should warn that before any method of processing them, you need to soak the nuts and use only those that have fallen to the bottom of the container.

Each fruit must be cut or pierced to prevent it from exploding during cooking.

Place the chestnuts in a frying pan with oil and cover them with a paper towel. To prevent the fruits from drying out, the towel must be moistened during frying.
Roast the nuts covered for half an hour. It is recommended to shake them periodically directly under the lid.
Sprinkle the finished nuts with salt or granulated sugar.

This is an even easier way to prepare chestnuts. It’s even easier than frying them in a frying pan.

Cooking method:

Place the chestnuts on a baking sheet, do not forget to pierce each fruit.
Place the pan in the oven for 40 minutes.
Serve the fruits sweet or salty.

You can also fry chestnuts in the microwave; this is also a simple and safe option for cooking them. True, this way they turn out not so much fried as steamed.

Cooking method:

Place the cut fruits in a wide container, sprinkle with salt and pour in three tablespoons of water (hot).
Close the dish and put it in the microwave for 8 - 10 minutes, setting the device to maximum power.

Chestnuts roasted in an air fryer

The air fryer can also be used to cook chestnuts. To do this, take a baking tray from the appliance, place the cut nuts on it and bake them for 20 to 30 minutes at a temperature of 180°C. The lower and upper grids can be covered with foil - this will make the fruits softer.

Once you master the basic cooking recipes, you can safely take on other, more interesting recipes. For example, you can make soup from chestnuts, bake them with meat, or please your loved ones with an original dessert.

How to cook chestnuts correctly

There are two ways to cook chestnuts.

The first is that the cut fruits are immersed in boiling water, boiled for five minutes, then removed and peeled from the film and shell. It is in these parts that bitterness is concentrated, and if they are not removed, the dish will be spoiled. Next, fill the peeled nuts with clean water and cook for 15 minutes. Boiled chestnuts can be served, drizzled with oil, as a side dish or used in salads. Chestnut decoction can also be used as a basis for preparing first courses.
The second method differs in that first the fruits are baked in the oven and as soon as the shells burst, they are removed, peeled and then, like the first method, boiled for 15 minutes.
You can deliciously cook exotic nuts in milk. To do this, put 300 g of already peeled nuts in a saucepan, pour a glass of milk and cook the fruits for 40 minutes. At this time, mix a spoonful of flour with two tablespoons of melted butter, add salt and sugar to taste. Add the sauce to the chestnuts, stir and remove from heat.

Chestnut dessert with honey

A phrase such as “chestnuts with honey” may sound strange to some, but in fact, these ingredients make a delicious autumn dessert. The finished dish combines several flavors at once - sour, bitter and sweet. In many countries, this delicacy is served with green tea for breakfast or afternoon snack.

Ingredients:

230 g chestnuts;
180 g feijoa;
half a lemon;
honey to taste.

Cooking method:

Place the pierced nuts in a dry frying pan and fry for 15 minutes.
Remove the shells and cut the fruits in half.
We cut the peeled feijoas into thin slices and place them with the chestnuts.
Pour citrus juice and honey over the finished dish.

Making chestnut puree

You can prepare chestnuts in the form of puree or cream.

Puree is ideal for making soups, baked goods and other desserts. The cream is used to make mousses, ice cream and cakes.

The cream can also be mixed with yogurt, cottage cheese, muesli, or simply eaten with toast.

Ingredients for puree:

230 g chestnuts;
spoon of sugar;
130 ml milk;
spoon of ghee.

Cooking method:

Place the already peeled chestnuts in a saucepan and cook in milk for 40 minutes.
We wipe the boiled fruits through a sieve together with the milk broth and return them to the stove.
Place pieces of butter, add sugar, mix, heat all ingredients well and remove from heat.

If you plan to use chestnut puree as a side dish for meat or poultry, use salt instead of sweetener, and also add onion or celery stalk to the recipe.

Ingredients for cream:

1 kg chestnuts;
160 ml cream;
160 g sugar;
60 g ghee;
vanilla pod.

Cooking method:

First you need to make puree from the nuts. To do this, cook the fruits for 10 minutes, then drain the hot water and pour in cold water. After five minutes, take out the nuts, remove the peels and grind them with a blender or rub them through a sieve.
Now you need to cook a sweet syrup from water, sugar and a vanilla pod. It should take no more than three minutes to prepare the syrup.
Pour the finished syrup into the chestnut puree, put the mixture on the fire and cook until thickened for about 15 minutes. This cream can already be used for making desserts or spread on toast as jam.

If you add cream instead of water, it will become butter cream. To prepare it, we also prepare puree, mix it with heated cream, sugar and vanilla. Cook the cream until thickened for 15 minutes, then add pieces of butter, stir and remove from heat. If the cream turns out to be too thick, then dilute it with cream.

Traditional Turkish recipe

In the depths of winter, the streets of Turkish cities are filled with the aroma of roasting chestnuts. Turkish residents offer their guests to try a variety of dishes made from this exotic nut. One of the special delicacies is Kestane Sekeri - candied edible chestnut, the recipe for which you will learn right now.

Ingredients:

a kilo of chestnuts;
kilo of granulated sugar;
450 g glucose;
vanilla to taste.

Cooking method:

First of all, peel the fruits. To do this, put them in boiling water for three minutes, then remove the shell and cook in clean water for 15 minutes.
Pour water into a saucepan, add sugar and glucose, and put on fire.
As soon as the sweet solution thickens, put chestnuts in it and after the syrup with nuts boils, turn it off, cover and leave it warm all night.
The next day, the process must be repeated and after cooling again, add vanilla.
Now all that remains is to place the nuts on a wire rack and dry until matte.

How to properly peel chestnuts

Traditionally, chestnuts are roasted over coals; the heat causes the skin to burst and then be easily removed.

At home, you can use more affordable methods for cleaning them.

Chestnuts can be fried in a frying pan, just remember to cut them. On heated fruits, the peel bursts when simply pressed. A film will remain on the kernel; it can be left or easily removed with a knife.
Cut the shell and place it in boiling water for 10 minutes. As a result of this heat treatment, the shell is removed along with the film.
Another way to peel chestnuts is in the oven. To do this, place the baking sheet with nuts in an oven preheated to 200°C for 10 minutes. As a result of heating, the peel becomes soft and easy to peel.
The microwave will also help clean the nuts. Just put the fruits in a special bowl with a lid and set it to normal mode for 30 minutes.
And the last method involves using a freezer. Chestnuts need to be frozen and then placed in boiling water for a few minutes.

At the end of the article, I would like to say that the chestnuts that we often see on our streets are not used for cooking. This is a special species of the Beech family – chestnut Castanea sativa. The edible chestnut is native to Asia Minor, as well as Southern and Eastern Europe. Today, this type of deciduous tree grows on the southern coast of Crimea, the Caucasus, Dagestan and Moldova.

The inhabitants of the Balkan Peninsula were the first to learn to use chestnuts for food. Later, the culture of eating these fruits spread to most of Europe, Asia and even North America. Today, roasted chestnuts are a fairly popular dish. True, for some it is a tribute to ancient traditions, while for others it is just an original dish.

For anyone who has never tried chestnuts, the first step is to learn as much as possible about them. After all, not all products have the same effect on the human body. To begin with, it is worth noting that The benefits of roasted chestnuts have been proven for a long time.

Scientists say they:

Due to the large amount of phosphorus and potassium in fruits, they have a beneficial effect on bone and muscle tissue, and also contribute to their rapid recovery.
Improves the condition of blood vessels. With regular consumption of chestnuts, you can prevent the development of varicose veins.
Due to the complex of B vitamins, they improve the general condition of the nervous system.
Normalize cholesterol levels in the blood and prevent the development of thrombosis.
Strengthen the immune system, increasing the body's protective ability.
Due to the content of water and healthy dietary fiber, they improve the functioning of the entire digestive tract.
Relieve fatigue and increase endurance.

But roasted chestnuts can also cause harm along with their benefits.

There are certain groups of people for whom these products are unsafe:

patients with diabetes mellitus;
those who have problems with the digestive system;
people with poor blood clotting;
pregnant and lactating women, as well as children, in whom this product may cause unwanted allergic reactions;
people with kidney and liver diseases.

Before eating chestnuts, they should definitely consult a doctor. After all, there is always a very thin line between benefit and harm.

Chemical composition and calorie content

Considering all of the above, it should be noted that roasted chestnuts are a very valuable food product, 100 grams of which contain:

52.96 grams of carbohydrates;
40.48 grams of water;
3.17 grams of protein;
5.1 grams of dietary fiber;
2.2 grams fat;
1.2 grams of ash.

Moreover, its energy value is 245 kilocalories. This is much more than fresh or steamed chestnuts.

In addition, the fruits contain large amounts of:

macroelements (potassium, sodium, magnesium, as well as phosphorus and calcium);
trace elements (copper, iron, selenium, zinc, manganese);
vitamins (A, E, C, PP, group B, K, beta-carotene);
fatty and essential acids;
easily digestible mono- and disaccharides.

All this speaks of the significant benefits of chestnut. But, as with any other product, you need to be very careful with it.

What do roasted chestnuts taste like?

To begin with, it is worth noting that in nature there are many varieties of chestnuts. But only 30 of them can actually be eaten. The most popular is chestnut.

It is one of the subspecies of the beech family. The tree reaches a height of 40 meters, and its fruits are nuts enclosed in a spherical, prickly shell. What do roasted chestnuts taste like? The French can tell you this best. After all, it is in this country that such fruits are especially popular. Local residents even consider them their national pride in the field of gastronomy.

According to ancient tradition, chestnuts are roasted outside. Their unique aroma creates a romantic areola and home comfort. The taste of chestnuts resembles a cross between undercooked, slightly sweet potatoes and nuts. Most often they are eaten simply as seeds. In addition, fragrant and crunchy chestnuts are used as an original addition to meat, vegetables, and even excellent salads, snacks or desserts are prepared with them.

Roasted chestnuts in a frying pan

Those who like to experiment can try making these unusual nuts themselves. In principle, there is nothing complicated here. How to cook roasted chestnuts at home? This can be done in different ways.

The easiest way is to fry fresh chestnuts in a frying pan.

To do this you need:

Sort through the fruits, putting aside spoiled and damaged ones. But sometimes a visual assessment is not enough. To be more sure, chestnuts can be immersed in a container of water. For further work, it is better to use those fruits that end up at the bottom.
Wash them thoroughly with a brush and dry with a towel.
Make cross-shaped cuts on the side of the shell with a sharp knife. This is necessary so that the fruits do not explode during frying.
Pour the chestnuts into the frying pan and immediately place it on the heat. Cover the fruits with a wet napkin. It is advisable that the frying pan has a thick bottom. Otherwise, the fruits will burn.
Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes, covered. The products need to be shaken periodically so that they are well fried on all sides.
As soon as the skin of the fruits darkens, remove the napkin and steam them a little.

Pour the finished ruddy chestnuts onto a plate and eat hot.

How to fry in the microwave

Modern housewives can prepare European delicacies even in the microwave. It won't be difficult at all to do this.

For this procedure you need:

Carefully sort through the chestnuts.
Wash them thoroughly, removing any remaining bitter streaks, and dry.
Pour the prepared products into a shallow container specially designed for use in the microwave.
Lightly sprinkle them with salt and add a little hot water.
Cover the container with cling film and place in the chamber for 7 - 8 minutes. Cook roasted chestnuts on maximum power. Each microwave will have its own one.

During this processing, chestnuts are not only fried, but also slightly steamed. As a result, the fruits are softer and more tender.

Cooking in the oven

Some housewives believe that it is much easier to make roasted chestnuts in the oven. This statement is partly true.

In this case you will need:

Select whole and high-quality fruits for work.
Rinse them well and dry thoroughly.
First make a neat cut on each chestnut. To do this you will need a sharp knife.
Pour the fruits onto a baking sheet and place them cut side up.
Preheat the oven to at least 220 degrees.
Place the baking tray with chestnuts in it and bake for about 25 - 30 minutes.
Pour the finished fruits onto a towel, wrap and squeeze well. This is necessary so that the skin subsequently lags behind better. Leave them in this position for at least 5 minutes.

After this, chestnuts can be eaten immediately, enjoying their delicate taste and pleasant aroma.

Chestnuts roasted on charcoal

If we recall a little history, then Initially, people roasted the fruits of edible chestnuts on coals. In many regions of France, this tradition continues to this day. You can repeat the old technique even at home. To do this, you will need to light a fire in the yard or use a regular fireplace for work. The technology for this type of frying differs little from the previously described options.

For this you will need:

Sort through the fruits, putting aside those that raise doubts.
Wash them and dry with a napkin.
Make a small cut on the surface with a knife or simply pierce them with a fork.
At the same time, you can make a fire. Wait until the wood burns well.
Make a small depression in the coals.
Place chestnuts in it and cover with coals on top.
Wait approximately 10 - 15 minutes. The finished fruits will begin to “explode”. These claps will signal the end of the process.
Remove the roasted chestnuts from the hole, place them on a wide plate and cover with a towel. Under such a peculiar “coat” the fruits reach full readiness. This will take some time

Afterwards, you can safely clean and try them. It is best to eat chestnuts while they are still hot. Cooled fruits, as a rule, lose their unique aroma.

How to fry chestnuts at home, where they grow and what can be prepared from them - these are the questions asked by all gourmets who risk one day trying this wonderful nut. But thanks to its beneficial properties, the edible chestnut nut is an indispensable product in some European cuisines; it is not only eaten in its pure form, but also excellent dishes are prepared based on ground nut flour, as well as boiled, smoked and canned.

The easiest way to prepare chestnuts is to simply fry them, but even this seemingly simple cooking method hides several nuances that must be taken into account in order to obtain a tasty product.

Ingredients for 4-5 persons

- vegetable or beef broth 1 l;

- potatoes 200 grams;

- boiled chestnut 400 grams;

- onion 2-3 stalks;

- wine 200 ml;

- Parmesan cheese - 100 grams;

- salt and pepper to taste.

How to properly roast chestnuts at home?

First of all, we clean the nuts from the outer needle-like shell and make small cuts in the shell, so that excess moisture from the nut can escape from the shell, otherwise the nut will not explode during cooking. For frying, you must use a heavy cast iron frying pan, as frying chestnuts requires high temperatures that can damage Teflon cookware. Place the chestnuts in one layer in a frying pan, cover with damp napkins and fry in this way for 25-30 minutes, carefully ensuring that the napkins are always damp, thereby preventing the nuts from drying out and periodically turning the chestnuts over. How to check if chestnuts are ready, try to break the shell with your hands, it should crack easily.

But chestnuts are good not only as a separate delicacy, but also as a complex dish, so if you have mastered how to fry chestnuts at home, a recipe based on them will not seem complicated either. Chestnuts are good in desserts, salads and main courses, as well as in soups. Puree soup with chestnuts is a kind of hallmark of French cuisine. This soup is prepared using meat or vegetable broth and white wine, and despite its apparent complexity, it is easy to prepare.

Finely chop the potatoes, a couple of green leeks and place it all in a deep saucepan. Select the dishes taking into account that the rest of the ingredients should also be included. After frying finely chopped potatoes and onions in oil, add wine, pre-cooked chestnuts, and broth. Cook all this until the potatoes are fully cooked, and a couple of minutes before removing from the heat, add finely grated cheese. You can beat the soup with a mixer with a special attachment both at the cooking stage and before serving. You can decorate the soup with herbs on top.

Bon appetit!

Today we will tell you how to roast chestnuts at home. Of course, those chestnuts that grow in your city serve only a decorative role. Another thing is the edible chestnut. This plant is a symbol of France; royal dishes can be prepared from this exotic delicacy - both sweet and first and second. We will offer you some of them below.

You need European (otherwise known as seed) chestnut. How to choose chestnuts for roasting? Edible, the fruits are quite dense and their shells are shiny. The best edible chestnuts are wrinkled and have a smooth skin. They look something like this. See those soft needles?

How to fry chestnuts at home in a frying pan?

1. We make shallow cuts. Then you need to pour a third of a glass of water into the pan. They need to simmer for half an hour under the lid. Ready chestnuts are soft, you can check this by simply pressing.

2. You can microwave edible chestnuts for about five minutes at maximum power. You should also add a little salted water to the microwave container.

Here's how to fry chestnuts in a frying pan. By the way, in France they sell special frying pans with holes, but you can use your regular non-stick frying pan.

How to cook chestnuts in the oven?

1. We make deeper cuts than for frying in a frying pan.

2 . The oven needs to be preheated well before you put the chestnuts in it.

3 . You need to keep the chestnuts in the oven for about 20 minutes. Over time, it is very important not to overdo it.

Now you know how to properly roast chestnuts so that they turn out very tasty. It is best to eat chestnuts while they are warm; when they are cold they become tasteless.

Raw chestnuts are best stored in a cool, dark place.

Other dishes from European chestnuts.

Chestnuts can be blended with warm milk in a blender. It's very tasty. Especially in the form of a sauce for dishes - very delicate, giving an excellent taste. This product is universal; you can even add ready-made chestnut puree to ice cream.

Chestnut desserts.

Chestnuts make very tasty mousses. They combine beauty and benefit. For example, you can make mousse with orange and pistachios. You need to whip the cream, hold the chestnuts in the frying pan for 3 minutes, naturally, peeling them and making cuts, as was written above when we described how to fry chestnuts. After which they are crushed in a blender and mixed with cream. The mousse is put in the refrigerator for half an hour. After that, the juice is squeezed out of the orange, the zest is finely chopped and all this is added to the chilled mousse. Finally, finely chop the pistachios and also add to the mousse.

For us, this is still an exotic dish. But chestnuts are already starting to appear in supermarkets. So it will not be superfluous for every housewife to know how to roast chestnuts at home.

Chestnuts need to be collected in the fall. They are a storehouse of vitamins A and C, zinc, folic acid and other substances, which are especially well preserved if chestnuts are eaten raw. You just need to remove the skin and film from them. In France they are often eaten this way, straight from the tree. A raw chestnut will taste like a nut. The beneficial properties of this product are lost during long-term storage. If you are trying to lose weight, you don’t have to worry about your weight and eat chestnut fruits in any quantity, because they contain few calories.

Chestnut- a long-lived tree, the first fruits begin to be obtained from it 20 years after the tree is planted. In the CIS countries you will hardly find edible chestnuts, except in the botanical garden.

Each of us loves to eat tasty and satisfying food. Housewives often face the question: what to cook to please loved ones without spending a lot of effort and time on it? If you really want to surprise your family, try roasted chestnuts!

Many people probably don’t even know that chestnuts are edible, but they really are. And if you cook them correctly, the dish will turn out to be unusual, tasty and original. Chestnuts have been a favorite delicacy since ancient times. The most ancient Romans and Greeks loved to eat them for dessert and as a snack with wine. Chestnuts are widespread in European cuisine. They are on the menu of many restaurants in France, Italy and other places that know a lot about food. For example, in Paris, chestnuts are cooked right on the street in special large frying pans and immediately treated to passers-by. Moreover, in France they are baked over fires, in frying pans with special holes, soups are made from them, served with seafood, and even bread and sweets are made from chestnut flour.

How to roast chestnuts correctly?

Chestnuts taste like a cross between a nut and a potato. If you eat them raw, they will be crispy, but if you boil them, they will become soft. Chestnut is used as the base of the dish. They can be bought in regular stores by weight, frozen and in jars in the form of ready-made purees. But it’s even easier to find chestnuts right on the street, because they actively grow on trees in the fall. But be careful! If you decide to pick chestnuts yourself, you need to know which fruits you can take and which ones you should refuse. They all look the same and are covered with a brown shell. But not everything can be eaten! Edible chestnuts are slightly elongated and bulb-like. The trees on which they grow have carved, jagged leaves that are attached to the branches with the help of a cutting. If the leaves resemble maple leaves, it is better not to pick chestnuts from them, because. you can easily get poisoned. When you crack such a fruit, you will see that the nuts are round and slightly embossed.

Chestnuts are extremely beneficial for health; like all other nuts, they contain natural plant proteins and carbohydrates that are easily absorbed by the body. They contain such important substances as ascorbic and folic acids, potassium, copper, iron and zinc.

How to fry chestnuts in a frying pan?

First, they must be cut. This can be done using scissors or a regular knife. Make a cut from the side to lightly touch the nut itself. This is done so that steam can escape freely from the chestnuts when roasting.

If the chestnuts are not young and the flesh is wrinkled, you can add a little water to them or cover them with a damp towel. This will allow them to steam thoroughly.
So, now that we have learned how to select and process chestnuts, it’s time to learn how to cook them!

Chestnuts need to be peeled and any bitter streaks removed. Next, they should be rubbed with a brush and washed with plain water. After this, as we have already said, you need to make cuts in the chestnuts or simply pierce them deeply with a fork.

Take any large frying pan with thick walls; special grill dishes are best. Next, heat it well and lay out the chestnuts. No need to add any oil! Do not forget that chestnuts must be covered with a lid and fried over moderate heat. If they start to crack and burst, just shake the pan. Don't rush to cool the dish right away. They are good hot!

You should carefully approach the choice of dishes. There are special frying pans for frying chestnuts. Their distinctive feature is small holes at the bottom.

Important rules for frying:

Don't roast chestnuts for too long. If you overcook the fruits, you will not be able to chew them!
Eat nuts hot, otherwise they will lose flavor and nutrients.
Remove not only the shell, but also the partitions.
Raw chestnuts are best stored in dark, cool rooms. For example, in storage rooms.

How to roast chestnuts in the oven?

Another interesting way to prepare chestnuts is to bake them in the oven. To begin with, you also need to wash and cut them.

Next, place the fruits on a baking sheet and place in the oven, preheated to 220 degrees. Wait until your chestnuts begin to crack and open. This means that the dish is ready and you can safely try it. You can add salt or sugar to give it a piquant taste.

Here is another interesting recipe for cooking chestnuts in the oven.

Compound:

Chestnuts - 500 gr.
Eggs - 2 pcs.
Cheese - 200 gr.
Breadcrumbs, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Grate nuts, cheese onto a plate, add breadcrumbs and pepper.
Break the eggs into a separate bowl and place the chestnuts in it.
Next, combine the resulting mixture with the cheese mixture and place everything in a greased baking dish. Bake until done.