By ShowMeStepByStepPublished
Based on a video by Chef Perry (MYKITCHEN).
The two things that go wrong with roast chestnuts are that they explode, and that you cannot peel them afterwards. Both are solved before they go in the oven.
Chef Perry roasts a two pound batch here with butter, rosemary, salt and pepper, and the whole method rests on two steps most recipes leave out.
A chestnut is a sealed shell with moisture inside. Heat it and that moisture turns to steam with nowhere to go. Cutting a shallow X through the husk gives the steam an exit, and it is also the gap your thumbnail gets into later.
Use a small serrated knife and sit each nut flat side down. A tea towel under the board stops everything sliding while you cut.
Half an hour in very hot water softens the husk and adds the moisture that steams the nut from the inside. Skip it and you get a chestnut that roasts dry, with a skin welded to the meat.
The loose foil parcel does the same job in the oven, trapping steam around the nuts rather than letting it escape. Leave a small opening at the top so it vents rather than bursting.
Warm husks come away like a hard-boiled egg shell. Cold ones grip. Do them straight out of the rest, and be aware the roasted edges get genuinely sharp - kitchen gloves are not a silly idea for a big batch.
Swap the salt, pepper and rosemary for brown sugar and cinnamon in the same melted butter. Everything else about the method stays the same. A few whole heads of garlic tucked into the parcel also work well alongside the savoury version.
12 steps · about 5 minutes.Check off each step as you go and your progress saves automatically.
Get the oven up to 425F and give the chestnuts a quick rinse under cold water.
For two pounds you want a stick of butter, two or three sprigs of rosemary, two teaspoons of salt and one of black pepper. Buy a few more chestnuts than you need, because there is usually one in every bag that has dried out inside.
Tip
A good chestnut feels heavy and firm with no give. If it rattles or the shell dents under your thumb, throw it out.
Sit each chestnut flat side down and cut a shallow X across the rounded top with a small serrated knife.
This is not optional. A chestnut is a sealed shell full of moisture, and without a vent that moisture turns to steam and the nut bursts in the oven. The cut is also where your thumbnail goes in when you peel.
Tip
Put a folded tea towel under the board. Chestnuts roll, and you are pushing a knife toward your fingers.
Put the scored chestnuts in a bowl of very hot water and leave them about half an hour.
The soak softens the tough outer husk and drives moisture in through the cuts, and that moisture is what steams the nut from the inside while it roasts. It is the difference between a husk that slips off and one that has to be dug out.
While they soak, pull the leaves off two or three sprigs of rosemary. Pinch the top of the stem and run your fingers down it against the growth direction and they come away in one pass.
Drain the chestnuts, tip them into a bowl, and pour a stick of melted butter over the top.
Chestnuts on their own are mild and only faintly sweet, closer to a roast potato than a walnut. They will take everything you give them.
Scatter the stripped rosemary leaves over the buttered chestnuts, pulling the clumps apart as you go. Left in a bundle you end up with two very herby chestnuts and a lot of plain ones.
Add two teaspoons of salt and one of pepper.
That reads as a lot of salt and it is not, because most of it ends up on the husk and the husk goes in the bin. Season as though you are seasoning the shell, not the nut.
Stir until every chestnut is glossy and the herbs and seasoning are spread evenly through the butter.
Tip them onto a foil-lined baking sheet and spread them into one layer. Piled chestnuts steam unevenly and some will still be raw when the rest are done.
Scrape the bowl out so the last of the butter and herbs goes on the tray with them.
Gather the foil up on all four sides into a loose parcel, but leave a small opening at the top.
The parcel traps steam around the chestnuts, which is what loosens the husks. The opening lets enough out that it does not inflate and split.
Roast for 45 to 60 minutes, until the cut edges of the husk have curled back on themselves. That curl is your doneness signal, not the clock.
Take the tray out and leave them another 15 minutes still wrapped. The steam trapped during that rest is doing the last of the work on the skins.
Get a thumbnail under the curled edge and roll the husk back the way you would a hard-boiled egg shell. The thin inner skin should lift away with it, leaving sweet golden meat.
Do this while they are still warm. Once they cool the skin tightens back onto the nut and the job gets a lot harder. The roasted husk edges are sharp, so gloves are worth it on a big batch.
Tip
Peel only what you are about to eat and leave the rest in the warm foil. They stay easy to peel far longer that way.
Keep going
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How to Roast Chestnuts
How to Roast Chestnuts
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