living in the woods and making stuff

Brenda had me over this afternoon to learn how to make sweet chestnut ravioli. This is a recipe that she came up with, and I was really excited to try it!  It was a bit of work, but a wonderful way to spend the afternoon! I always love to cook with other cooks, it is the best way to learn new tricks and tips in the kitchen!!

Below I have written up an approximate recipe for what we did.

Boil chestnuts for 20 minutes, or until tender. It  might be easier to peel them if they are slit with a knife or chestnut splitter first. (We just boiled them whole)

While chestnuts are boiling, mix up dough for pasta. On a clean counter, make a mound of flour. We used a mixture of white flour and semolina flour, with a dash of salt. The Semolina flour is harder and the individual grains are larger. The white flour has more gluten and is what holds the dough together. Together they make a nice combination for this dish.

In the center of the flour mixture add eggs, one at a time. As the eggs are mixed in place the resulting dough to the side. We needed three eggs to use up our flour. Place dough in a bowl and cover. Let rest for at least 30 minutes.

While the dough is resting, peel the chestnuts, being careful to remove both the inner and outer shell. It is easier to remove the shell when the nuts are hot, so keep the majority of the chestnuts in the pot in hot water, removing a few at a time to peel. These chestnuts were so easy to peel! Many of them popped right out of their skins.

Place peeled chestnuts in a food processor. Pulse to chop until somewhat fine. Add a sprinkle of chocolate chips and some powdered sugar.

Pulse until chestnuts and chocolate chips are approximately the same size, and the mixture comes together when you mix it with your fingers.

Return to the dough. It should have come together after resting, and you can knead it a little, but not too much.

Break off a piece and run it through a pasta maker. Start with the #1, the largest setting, and roll through each setting until desired thickness. (We finished at setting #5 for our ravioli.)

Place dough on a well floured counter and put filling on pasta. Cut out pieces, trying to keep them about the same size (so that they cook evenly).

Seal the ravioli with water or egg white, and press firmly with a fork.

We placed our finished ravioli on a well floured cookie sheet to freeze. When they were frozen, we put them into ziplock bags. Brenda deep fries them. I might try deep frying, or also just boiling them. I am going to wait until Miles, Nozomi, and Heli are around (hopefully all at the same time!) to eat them.