Chestnut Pasta Recipe - DWC Magazine

Chestnut Pasta Recipe

Chesnut Pasta

By Mike Devlin

Like rich food? Too bad, because this chestnut pasta is something so indulgent that the Over Indulgent Police may show up at your door and serve you with a cease and desist order. 

What you need
Egg pasta (see below)
Double/Heavy Cream
Chardonnay or Pinot
Garlic (see below)
Cooked chestnuts
Wild mushrooms
Truffle oil 
Pancetta
Truffle (if you can afford it, if not, the oil - expensive as that is, but still use the oil - will do a great job)
S&P

Cayenne pepper 

Yeah, I know right! Just looking at that list for chestnut pasta will make you put on 5lbs, but we are just going to crack on with making chesnut pasta, and ignore what your Doc said. What do they know?

First we are going to cook that pasta.

Now all pasta shapes are there for a reason; if you want to trap the dish to it, you use a pasta with lots of edges and angles, if not you use something that is smooth.

We want the former.

As with everything, you buy what you can afford (this is already an expensive dish as it is), but the better quality the better it will be.

Follow the packaging instructions but be mindful that you will cook it again for about an extra minute.

Once done, immediately drain it, and place to one side.

Now the sauce. Oh my! 

Crush/smush/finely dice the garlic. OR! Put a bulb in some foil (chop the top off, exposing the cloves), pour some olive oil on it and sprinkle some S&P on it, close up the foil and put in the oven for 30 minutes at 180c/355f. 

You just made roasted garlic. Also your kitchen now smells of garlic.

If done this way, take however many cloves you want and push it out if its skin onto a board and smear it. Save the rest for awesome garlic toast.

Next get the cooked chestnuts - these may be vacuumed packed or canned - and smush them in the board. Oh, is your garlic still there? Nobody cares, keep going.

Your wild mushrooms; roughly chop 'em up. Go at it.

If you are lucky enough to be using actual truffles, then shave some slices up. You may have dried truffle and if this is the case then put them in some boiled water for a few minutes (same with dried mushrooms).

Now all of that is going in a large frying pan on a low to medium heat with your truffle oil (if that is out of your budget, a good quality oil will suffice, but you will lose out on some flavour).

Now add the pancetta. Yes, I know I didn't say what to do with it, but you knew you had to cut it up. Maybe you don't want to, that's fine. I am putting you on the path, and this is now your journey.

Stir all of that up for a couple of minutes, then add the white wine. You know (or should by now) I tend not to give you quantities where I can avoid it, and this is no different. Cooking is fun, flamboyant, and should be 'you'.

The wine will gradually reduce, but all those flavours will be captured by what is in the pan. 

After a couple of minutes, you can add the cream, but turn the heat down to low. Slowly incorporate everything together, and then add that pasta.

After a minute it is ready.

Serve chestnut pasta into whatever you decide, and sprinkle Cayenne pepper on top. 

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