How to Roast Chestnuts in the Oven
If you just roasted a batch of pumpkin, don't turn off the oven, put a handful of chestnuts to roast. The oven is already heated to the right temperature (200C). This way the chestnuts roast quickly but without drying out. At a higher temperature, I noticed they dry out too much.
chestnuts
- How to choose chestnuts
It's more difficult, but not impossible... First of all, I noticed that the best chestnuts are the large, plump ones with a shiny dark brown shell. They look somehow... like they're bursting with health 😊 If you take a chestnut and cut it in half, the flesh should be white (not yellowish, black, or with gray spots). If you're curious and taste the flesh, you can tell when it's sweet. - How to roast chestnuts in the oven
Take each chestnut, place it with the rounded side up on the work surface. Score the top in a + shape (first lengthwise then perpendicular, widthwise; see photo 2); be careful to pierce only the shell as much as possible and as little of the flesh as you can; use a very sharp knife, otherwise the scoring is harder to do. - Pour boiling water over the scored chestnuts and let them blanch for 2 minutes.
- Drain well and place in the baking tray with the scores facing up.
- Roast at 200C for 25 minutes (in the last 5 minutes, if you have one, turn on the broiler, the shells will dry out better).
- Transfer the chestnuts to a towel and rub well to loosen the shell (like when you rub toasted nuts to remove their skins). Without opening the towel, let the chestnuts cool for 5-10 minutes.
- Peel the chestnuts of their shell and inner skin immediately. Don't let them cool down, they'll be much harder to peel.
Chestnuts with white flesh
Score chestnuts in a + shape
Blanch the chestnuts
Place in tray with scores facing up
Roasting
Rub in towel
Peeling
