Recipes Using Chestnut Paste

THE MOST DELICIOUS CHESTNUT DESSERT (MONT BLANC) RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450˚F (230˚C).
• Score the chestnuts in a cross with a knife.
• Place the chestnuts on a sheet pan and bake for 30 minutes.
• Remove the chestnuts with a towel, and quickly peel the warm chestnuts.
• Put the peeled chestnuts in a pan and add water, sugar, and vanilla extract.
• Cook and stir the chestnut on high heat until the water has evaporated and chestnuts has softened, about 15 minutes.
• Place the chestnut filling in a food processor, add in water and blend until smooth.
• Push the chestnut filling through an sieve into another bowl.
• Transfer filling to a piping bag with a circle tip and chill.
• Preheat the oven to 200˚F (90˚C).
• In a bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy using a hand mixer.
• Add sugar to the egg whites and whisk until stiff peak forms.
• Transfer the meringue into a piping bag fitted with a circle tip and pipe the meringue in a swirling motion onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
• Bake the meringue for 1 hour.
• Get the pie crust, and cut small circles to serve as the bottom for the meringue and bake for 30 minutes
• Place the meringue on top of the pie crust and pipe the whipped cream around it. Pipe the chestnut cream around the whipped cream.
• Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
• Enjoy!

CHESTNUT PUREE

Steps:

• Combine chestnuts, milk, and salt in a saucepan. Using the tip of a paring knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean into pan, and toss in pod. Bring to a simmer, and cook, partially covered, until chestnuts are very soft and all but about 1/2 cup of the liquid has been absorbed, about 20 minutes.
• Pour mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, reserving chestnuts and cooking liquid separately and discarding vanilla pod. Process chestnuts in a food processor until very smooth, adding reserved cooking liquid (and additional milk if needed), 1 tablespoon at a time, until mixture is the consistency of a thick spread. Pour through a large-mesh sieve. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until ready to use.

CHESTNUT CREAM COOKIES - PASTATELLE

Steps:

• Make the Dough: In a large bowl, beat the eggs and add the olive oil, vanilla powder and baking powder. Mix well. Add the sugar and mix well. Little by little add the flour and let it absorb all the liquids. Move the dough to a wood board and continue to knead until it forms a uniform ball. Enclose the dough in plastic paper and let it rest for about 20 mins. Re-work the dough once again and let it rest for another 15 mins. Make the Chestnut Cream: If you are using fresh Chestnuts, first boil them and once they are cooked, remove the paste from all of them and put it in a food processor to get a smooth paste. Otherwise, you can use Chestnut flour. In a pan, add the dark chocolate, honey, orange zest and the cacao. On low flame let the chocolate melt and mix with all the ingredients. Add the chestnuts and mix well until you have a firm cream. Let it cool. Make the Pastatelle: Cut a piece of dough and flatten it with a rollinh pin. Make the dough very thin. Place a Tsp of Chestnut Cream on the dough and cover it with another layer of dough as if you were making a raviolo. Press the dough down to remove the air from inside the cookie and with a large shot glass or a ravioli stamp cut out the cookie from the dough. Make all your cookies. Once they are all made, they can be either baked at 350F for 20 mins. or they can be deep fried. Serve with powder sugar on top.

CHESTNUT PASTRY CREAM

Steps:

• Place milk and vanilla bean seeds in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, sift together flour, sugar, and cornstarch. Add eggs, and whisk mixture until pale and stiff. Continue whisking while slowly adding half of the hot milk mixture. Transfer egg mixture to saucepan with the remaining milk mixture. Place over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, and bring to a boil. Cook for 2 minutes.
• In a small bowl, whisk together chestnut paste and rum, if using. Remove egg mixture from heat, and whisk in chestnut paste mixture. Pour mixture into a wide shallow dish, and cover the surface directly with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cool. Strain through a fine mesh sieve before using.