Roasted chestnuts are easily done on a grill. They add great flavor in salads, or you can eat them directly as snacks.
Ingredients
- chestnuts
Instructions
- Chestnuts are great for roasting, you eat them with butter and salt. It is very common to add flavors to the butter like lemon zest.
- First we must make the distinction between horse chestnuts and real chestnuts. The former are not edible, they grow on large trees and have a deep brown shiny surface. They are slightly rounder in shape compared to their edible counterpart. See photo below. The real chestnuts are to the left.
- The real chestnuts grow on shrubbery or small trees. They require a warmer climate to grow. Their color is darker, and they are slightly pointier in shape.
- You roast chestnuts by first making two cuts, perpendicular to each other at the very top. The two cuts should form a cross. Cut through the outer shell, but not through the nut.
- Now roast them on the grill using indirect heat, for 20-25 minutes at 400° F. I use a grill mat (frog mat) to help out.
- When the outer shell cracks or opens up you know they’re done. Remove them and let them cool off for 5-10 minutes. Once they cooled off, peel off the outer shell as well as the inner brown membrane. Now they’re ready to eat, preferably with butter and salt.
