Dolores writes,
"My Grandmother was born on one of the small islands North of Sicily (Salina). When I was a small child, she would make little pasta (like Ditalini) with dried Chestnuts. It was a thin sauce with no tomatoes. I would love to make this dish and have even found the dried chestnuts in an Italian Grocery Store. "Do you know of any recipes like this?"
"My Grandmother was born on one of the small islands North of Sicily (Salina). When I was a small child, she would make little pasta (like Ditalini) with dried Chestnuts. It was a thin sauce with no tomatoes. I would love to make this dish and have even found the dried chestnuts in an Italian Grocery Store. "Do you know of any recipes like this?"
Ingredients:
- The ingredients for Pasta Chhi Castagni:
- 1 1/3 pounds (600 g) broken spaghetti (sminuzzati, which means broken into small bits)
- 1 1/3 pounds (600 g) peeled chestnuts
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- A rice-based variation
- 1 pound rice
- 1 pound dried chestnuts
- 1 white onion
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 4 boned anchovies, rinsed
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Chestnut soup from Lipari, in the Isole Eolie
- 1 pound rice
- 1 pound wild fennel fronds (or small cultivated fennel bulbs, with fronds and some ground fennel seeds)
- A hot pepper, shredded
- Olive oil
Preparation:
Not personally, nor have I found anything like this in a book. However, Pino Correnti gives a couple recipes with chestnuts in his Il Libro d'Oro della Cucina e dei Vini di Sicilia, one from near Palermo and the other from the island of Lipari. Both call for fresh chestnuts; if you have dried ones simply soak them in warm water for several hours to rehydrate them. To make the first recipe, Pasta Chhi Castagni:
Boil skinned chestnuts in lightly salted water, and when they have become soft crush them, then cook the pasta in the resulting puree. The only seasonings: Olive oil, and freshly ground pepper.
As an observation, the puree will have to be fairly liquid when you add the pasta, and you will have to stir it, lest the pasta stick down and burn.
To make the rice variation,
Begin by soaking the chestnuts for 24 hours. Mince the onion and brown it in a pan, add the tomato, water, and boil the chestnuts until soft. Crush them with the back of a spoon and salt the mixture lightly.
In the meantime boil the rice in another pot, and sauté the anchovy fillets briefly in some olive oil in a third, stirring them around to break them up. As soon as the rice is al dente drain it, and combine it with the chestnuts. Serve with the anchovy sauce.
The final recipe is from Lipari, in the Isole Eolie, and is interesting. Use the ingredients listed above; he neglects to say how many chestnuts, but tells us to boil them until soft, then peel them, crush them to a fine floury paste (put them through a potato ricer) and sauté them in olive oil, with the hot pepper and a pinch of salt. I'd figure at least a half pound of chestnuts, and perhaps more.
While preparing the chestnuts, wash and boil the wild fennel, then remove it from the pot, draining it well and leaving the water in the pot. Add the rice to the pot and cook it; wile it's cooking mince the fennel fronds and return them to the pot too. Drain the rice when it's al dente, whip the chestnut mixture into it, and serve.
A very different taste, says Mr. Correnti, and he's right.
Boil skinned chestnuts in lightly salted water, and when they have become soft crush them, then cook the pasta in the resulting puree. The only seasonings: Olive oil, and freshly ground pepper.
As an observation, the puree will have to be fairly liquid when you add the pasta, and you will have to stir it, lest the pasta stick down and burn.
To make the rice variation,
Begin by soaking the chestnuts for 24 hours. Mince the onion and brown it in a pan, add the tomato, water, and boil the chestnuts until soft. Crush them with the back of a spoon and salt the mixture lightly.
In the meantime boil the rice in another pot, and sauté the anchovy fillets briefly in some olive oil in a third, stirring them around to break them up. As soon as the rice is al dente drain it, and combine it with the chestnuts. Serve with the anchovy sauce.
The final recipe is from Lipari, in the Isole Eolie, and is interesting. Use the ingredients listed above; he neglects to say how many chestnuts, but tells us to boil them until soft, then peel them, crush them to a fine floury paste (put them through a potato ricer) and sauté them in olive oil, with the hot pepper and a pinch of salt. I'd figure at least a half pound of chestnuts, and perhaps more.
While preparing the chestnuts, wash and boil the wild fennel, then remove it from the pot, draining it well and leaving the water in the pot. Add the rice to the pot and cook it; wile it's cooking mince the fennel fronds and return them to the pot too. Drain the rice when it's al dente, whip the chestnut mixture into it, and serve.
A very different taste, says Mr. Correnti, and he's right.
