Chestnut season is here! There are so many great places to collect chestnuts around Lake Como as there are so many chestnut trees growing naturally in the forests up in the hills. LOVE this so much! :) October you hear the chestnuts falling from the trees, furry balls rolling down the paths in the forests and opening with the beautiful chocolate-looking chestnuts inside. Time to collect, cook, eat and be merry!
I didn't know how to prepare them before moving here, and we're still learning, but so far we've learnt how to open the furry little balls of chestnuts wider with a stick (as they're quite prickly hehe), pick decent sized chestnut nuts, checking that there are no visible holes on the chestnut and that they feel firm. Then when we get home we put them in a big bowl, cover with water, the ones that float are compromised, so we return those back outside to nature. Then we pat the selected ones dry and cut an x or just a slit in them. A lot of people roast them, which is super yummy but we don't have the resources for that so we spread them out on a tray and bake them in the 200degree oven for about 30mins and they open up like little presents! So cute! then we peel them when they're still warm/hot and we eat them as is or my hubbie also likes to freeze them, adding them to dough for homemade bread or in other recipes, like with lentils! So filling, so good! Trees are the best <3
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Collecting chestnuts. Thank you trees!
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| They're so cute! |
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| Forest floor |
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| Totebag life! Collecting chestnuts |
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| Magic chestnut forest in the mountains of Lake Como |
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