Roast with the most: Skye Gyngell on some old chestnuts

Once again it's the time of year for chestnuts; I can't quite believe it has come around so quickly. I love their soft, crumbly, yet velvety texture and the way they are wet but strangely dry and ever so slightly sweet. I also love their gorgeous colour – like the palest caramel.

Chestnuts are so lovely to eat that it really is worth going to the effortof roasting and peeling them; one of my favourite ways of eating them is straight from the shell while they are still warm.

They are equally good in sweet and savoury recipes. I love them with pumpkins, mushrooms and cavolo nero, serve them with slow-cooked lamb or with beef, or crumble them warm into cooked potatoes with lashings of extra-virgin olive oil and sage.

Chestnuts also have a natural affinity with chocolate, and the French and Italians adore them in a dish of meringues served with chestnut purée and cream, known either as Monte Bianco or Mont Blanc – so named because it resembles the snow-capped mountain. I ate this dish many times as a teenager in Paris and it is still one of my favourite desserts. *

Skye Gyngell is head chef at Petersham Nurseries, Church Lane, Richmond, Surrey, tel: 020 8605 3627. Her book 'A Year in My Kitchen', Quadrille, is the 2007 Guild of Food Writers' Cookery Book of the Year

Salad of pumpkin, chestnuts, buffalo mozzarella and speck

We have been making this salad at Petersham recently and I love it. The sweet, deep flavour of the pumpkin with the sage and chestnut is lovely and the smoky sweetness of the speck is perfect.

Serves 4

1 medium onion squash
7-8tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 dried red chilli
A small bunch of marjoram, leaves only
250g/8oz small plum or cherry tomatoes
8 very thin slices of speck
2 balls of the freshest buffalo mozzarella
12 sage leaves
12 peeled chestnuts, crumbled
1tbsp good-quality balsamic vinegar

Heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas4. Using a sharp knife, cut the squash into eight wedges and scrape out all the seeds with a spoon.

Lay the wedges flesh-side-up on a baking tray and drizzle with half the olive oil. Season well with salt and pepper, scatter over the marjoram, crumble over the dried chilli and roast in the oven for about 35 minutes, or until soft and slightly caramelised around the edges. Halfway through cooking, place the tomatoes on another baking tray, drizzle with a little more olive oil, season with salt and pepper and roast in the oven alongside the squash for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the squash and tomatoes to cool to room temperature. Next, roast the chestnuts using the method .

Divide the squash among four plates. Lay a slice of speck on top, tear the mozzarella in half with your hands and arrange over the squash. Scatter over the tomatoes, sage and chestnuts and finish with a final slice of speck.

Season with a little salt and a generous turn of the pepper mill, and drizzle over the last of the olive oil. Finish with the balsamic vinegar and serve.

Roast chestnuts

The best way to cook chestnuts is over a brazier or open fire, or you could put them over a gas flame. I find it quickest and easiest to cook them over a flat grill.

Take a sharp paring knife and make a small, cross-shaped incision at the top of each nut just under its pale hat. Place on to a hot grill (or into a special hot chestnut pan) and cook until they begin to pop and the outer husk starts to curl back.

Remove from the heat, allow to cool slightly, then peel off the shell with your fingers. They are now ready to eat straight from their shells or use as part of a recipe.

Porcini and potato soup with chestnuts

Dried porcini mushrooms lend this soup a luxurious richness. The combination of porcini, potato and chestnuts is irresistible.

Serves 4

200g/7oz dried porcini mushrooms
600ml/1pint warm water
150ml/1/4pint extra-virgin olive oil
1 banana shallot, peeled and finely chopped
20 small Roseval potatoes
4 sprigs of rosemary, leaves, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
10 chestnuts, peeled
100g/31/2oz Parmesan, grated
Sea salt and ground black pepper
Put the dried porcini in the warm water and leave to soak for 20 minutes. Place a pan over a low heat, add a tablespoon of the oil and the shallots; cook over a gentle heat for 10 minutes or until translucent.

While the shallots are cooking, slice the potatoes thinly. Then add the rosemary, garlic and potatoes, turn the heat to low and cook for five minutes. Add the rest of the olive oil – it may seem a lot but it is what makes the soup taste so rich. Stir well to combine and cook for 10 minutes.

Next roast the chestnuts (see recipe on page 67). Add along with the porcini and the water they were soaked in. Turn up the heat and cook until the potatoes are tender, stirring from time to time. Finish with the Parmesan, black pepper and a pinch of salt. Serve nicely warm.

Meringues with chestnut purée and cream

I absolutely love chestnut purée. At the restaurant we make our own, but it is fairly labour-intensive. Good-quality shop-bought purée is also delicious – try to look for one that is not excessively sweet, as they can be cloying. Just about everyone loves meringues – they are easy to make but can be a little temperamental; they don't like moisture or steam, so are best cooked in an oven on their own. Allow them to cool completely in the oven, as sudden changes of temperature can cause them to crack.

Serves 4

For the meringue (makes 8 medium meringues or 12 small ones)

4 organic free-range egg whites
Pinch of salt
240g/81/2oz caster sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
For the topping
A small jar of sweetened chestnut purée
A few drops of lemon juice
4-6tbsp of thick Jersey cream

Heat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas2. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Place the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl, add the salt and whisk slowly. A balloon whisk is best for this job at first; once the egg whites have broken down and begun to froth up, you can pick up the pace. Whisk until stiff peaks form (so the egg white stays up proudly on its own without collapsing). Add the sugar, a spoonful at a time, beating all the while, and finally beat in the vanilla. Place generous spoonfuls of the mix on the tray, spacing it evenly to allow room to expand. Place in the oven and immediately turn the setting down to 120C/250F/Gas1/2 and cook for a further 45 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the meringues to cool completely in the oven before removing.

Place a meringue in the centre of each serving plate. Taste the chestnut purée and add a few drops of lemon juice to counteract the sweetness if needed. Spoon the cream on top of the meringue, then finish with the chestnut purée.

Rich chocolate cream with candied chestnuts and oranges

I am going through a bit of mad candying phase at work at the moment. I have tried fruits of all descriptions. Chestnuts, though not technically a fruit, candy beautifully and are known as marrons glacés in French; they are also loved in Italy, especially in Liguria and Piedmont, where they are eaten as a sweet. This chocolate dessert is quick and very easy to make, the trick being (as in all cooking) to use the finest ingredients – in this case, chocolate.

Serves 4

For the chocolate cream

175g/6oz double cream
2tsp strong espresso coffee
175g/6oz dark chocolate (I used Valrhona 69 per cent)

For the candied fruit

20 chestnuts
Oranges, as many as you want to candy (they store well for a couple of weeks in the fridge)
500ml/17fl oz water
500g/1lb caster sugar

Bring the cream to the boil and remove from the heat immediately. Chop the chocolate into small pieces and add to the hot cream, then pour in the coffee. Stir well and leave for 15 minutes to allow the chocolate to melt into the cooling cream. Beat with an electric whisk until cold.

Next, candy the chestnuts and oranges. Slice the oranges into segments. Place a large pot of water on to boil. When the water is boiling, add the orange slices and allow the water to return to the boil. Cook for a couple of minutes, which removes the bitterness of the peel. Drain and discard the water. You don't need to blanch the chestnuts as they are not bitter.

Place half the sugar and water in a saucepan and stir once or twice. Place over a low heat, then leave to allow the sugar to melt. Once the sugar has melted, turn up the heat and bring the syrup to a boil. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the syrup begins to look a little viscous. Add the oranges and cook for around 5-8 minutes. Remove from the stove and allow the oranges to cool in the sugar syrup. Store in a sealed container in the fridge. They will last well for a couple of weeks. To candy the chestnuts, roast them first as in the recipe on page 67. Peel them and repeat the procedure, using the other half of the sugar and water. I usually candy chestnuts for a minute or so less.

If you have a sugar thermometer, the temperature you want to achieve is between 112C/234F and 115C/239F and the final quantity of sugar syrup this makes is 400ml/14fl oz per each fruit.

To serve, spoon into bowls and serve with the thick chocolate cream.

The Forager by Wendy Fogarty

Petersham's food sourcer reveals how to find out more about chestnuts Sweet chestnuts are the edible cousins of the English horse chestnut or conker, and they grow best in the warm southern European climates of France, Spain and Italy. Sweet chestnuts are available from quality greengrocers, and most Italian, French and Spanish speciality food shops. Be aware that Chinese chestnuts are also being sold – so ask for proof of origin, if you're concerned about carbon footprints.

'On Chestnuts: the Trees and their Seeds' by Ria Loohuizan (Prospect Books, tel: 01803 712 269, prospectbooks.co.uk)

Italian chestnut flour or farina di castagne from small Italian mill Sala Cereali Available from speciality food shops such as La Fromagerie (www.lafromagerie.co.uk)

Bien Manager, www.bienmanger.com This online purveyor sells Cevennes chestnut flour produced by Fariborne and Céline Mathieu's chestnut syrup – both made with chestnuts from France's most important chestnut-growing region

Marrons glacés Chocolatiers of quality, such as L'artisan du Chocolat (www.lartisanduchocolat.com), sell candied chestnuts – or marrons glacés – from November to March