Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 16 oz. whole chestnuts
Instructions
- Using a paring knife, slit into the shell and the skin down the side of each chestnut (see note below) – being sure not to pierce too deep as to cut into the meat – place each prepared chestnut into a heat proof bowl
- While you slit the chestnuts, bring a kettle or pot of water to a boil
- Once all of the chestnuts are slit and the water has come to a boil, pour the boiling water over the chestnuts and let them soak until the water has come to room temperature (about 30-45 minutes)
- Place a 12″ cast iron skillet into the oven and preheat to 375f
- Once the oven is pre-heated, remove the hot cast iron skillet from the oven and place the soaked chestnuts into the skillet
- Return to the oven and roast for 30 minutes – shake the pan every so often to toss the chestnuts around so they roast evenly
- When finished roasting, remove chestnuts from the oven and cover the pan with a lid or wrap the nuts in a dishcloth to further steam them if they have not all completely opened up (let them steam for about 10 min more)
- Keeping the chestnuts covered so they stay warm, one by one remove each chestnut from their shell & skin
- Eat them warm just as is or use in a recipe
Notes
*If using freshly harvest chestnuts, wait about 4-5 days before roasting
*It takes a bit of practice to get the hang of slitting the chestnuts, but to protect yourself from any knife mishaps – you can use a utility knife with just 1/4″ of the blade exposed or alternately wrap your paring knife with some duct tape leaving only 1/4″ at the tip exposed
*If any of the skins remained attached to the chestnuts after following the above process, you can steam them for about 5 minutes to loosen the skin
