Chestnut thyme stuffing

I have never cooked with chestnuts before and was delighted by their creamy texture and nutty flavour.

Ingredients

½ kg fresh chestnuts

1 lemon

¼ cup pistachios

Handful of thyme

Handful of parsley

50 grams butter

Preparation

Put the oven on at 200 degrees. Cut a cross in the side of each chestnut. Lay the chestnuts on a baking tray with the cross side up.

Place the tray in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes, until the shells peel back from the cross.

Grate the rind of the lemon. Melt the knob of butter.

Peel the chestnuts while they are still hot. Lay a tea towel on your board and pierce the chestnuts through the cross to peel. Use the tea towel to hold onto the chestnuts and stop them skidding away.

Discard any chestnuts which are not a creamy yellow colour.

Method

Put the chestnuts into a grinder or food processor and blitz until a rough crumb.

Add the pistachios, lemon rind, thyme and parsley. Blitz again.

Decant the mix into a bowl. Add the butter and mix.

Using an ice-cream scoop, ladle balls of the chestnut mix onto a baking tray, or if you are doing roast potatoes in the same tray.

Bake at 180 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown.