ROASTED CHESTNUTS

Ingredients:

• Italian Chestnuts

Directions:

• Your grocer will likely have two kinds of chestnuts: castagne, run-of-the-mill chestnuts, and marroni or Italian chestnuts, larger, meaty chestnuts that can be an inch or more across. While good castagne will do for boiling and such, you will want marroni for roasting.


• Pick them over carefully, taking only those that are firm and whose skins are a rich glowing brown. If they smell moldy, look blotchy, feel light, or have pin-holes, pass them by.


• Before roasting the chestnuts, make an X cut in the round side of each, to keep them from exploding.


• Place chestnuts, cut sides up, on a baking sheet. Roast at 400 degree F until tender, about 20 minutes. Insert fork through cut in shell to test tenderness. Wrap the hot chestnuts in an old towel, squeeze them hard to crush the skins, and let them sit wrapped for five minutes. Open the towel and enjoy.


• Or try roasting pumpkin seeds! Add salt to taste and bake pumpkin seeds at 250° until dry, stirring occasionally. I bake mine for about 15 to 30 minutes or until the start to turn a very light gold.

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