Homemade priest chestnuts: the original recipe.

With the arrival of the winter season, together with the first cold weather, the queen of autumn also arrives: the chestnut. To be consumed dried, roasted, boiled perhaps in the company of friends, it is ideal for munching on something while chatting. The ideal accompaniment? A good glass of strictly red wine.

The Campania tradition that has made this habit its own involves the creation of priest's chestnuts, an artisanal product that requires over a month of preparation. The priest's chestnut derives from the Montella PGI variety, in fact it seems that it was the Bourbons together with the Benedictine monks who refined the technique, starting from a simple tree of wild chestnuts, through various grafts they managed to create the Marroni, very large chestnuts with an extremely tasty pulp, ideal for being the basis of various culinary preparations typical of the Campania region and beyond.

Let's see how you can make homemade priest's chestnuts.

The traditional recipe

The origin of the priest's chestnuts recipe seems to date back to an ancient story that has to do with a priest.

Legend has it that the monk, having received many chestnuts as a gift, decided to transport them home with the help of a mule. The latter, burdened by too much weight, could not hold the load which spilled entirely into the waters of a river. The monk, mocked by the villagers, did not give up and took the chestnuts home. Even though they were wet, he managed to collect them all and decided to put them in the oven to dry them. The result was incredible, a chestnut with a soft and fragrant interior, very tasty. As imaginative as the story seems to be, it summarizes in simple words the process for creating the priest's chestnuts, through the various phases.

Industrially these are produced by drying approximately 150 quintals of chestnuts on a wooden floor with a fire lit at the base, after this first phase, to be carried out immediately after harvesting the chestnuts since at that moment they have a large percentage of water inside them. Subsequently, they are toasted, this phase is essential to allow the chestnut to have its typical flavour. The last phase, the one that allows you to eat a soft and tasty chestnut, is the one called bathing, the chestnuts are immersed in water for 7 days. Only then will they be ready to be enjoyed alone or added to typical recipes that include them.

Homemade priest chestnuts

Although initially the priest's chestnuts were made exclusively in the Avellino area, today they are widespread throughout Italy and the world, especially during the Christmas period they are also sold in kiosks in the middle of the streets and cooked according to the traditional recipe.

It is also possible to make priest's chestnuts at home, you need to let them dry on a grate with the fire underneath, so that the smoke gives the chestnut the typical flavor of the product, even on a barbecue you can carry out this procedure, then you need to toast the chestnuts in a ventilated oven for at least 50 minutes, in this way all the water still present will be eliminated from the chestnut and only the typical flavor of the pulp will remain.

The last phase can be carried out at any time, as the chestnuts can be stored for up to two weeks. You need to re-hydrate the chestnuts in water or wine, so that they are soft and can be enjoyed easily. A few days immersed in the liquid is enough to be able to consume them, perhaps heating them in the oven just before consuming them at the table, perhaps accompanied by a glass of red wine.

Credits: CHEF MARCO CAPURSO Facebook®