The chestnut risotto is an elegant and tasty first course that is easily prepared with either fresh chestnuts or pre-cooked or dried ones. Here’s the recipe with steps and tips.
If you like chestnuts, don’t forget to check out the recipe
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 2 Minutes
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 2
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
- Energy 727.55 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 125.88 (g) of which sugars 11.09 (g)
- Proteins 14.66 (g)
- Fat 15.62 (g) of which saturated 8.95 (g)of which unsaturated 6.44 (g)
- Fibers 6.27 (g)
- Sodium 438.99 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 5 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for 2 people
- 1 cup Carnaroli rice
- 7.05 oz chestnuts
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 4.23 cups vegetable broth
- 1.4 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp Parmigiano Reggiano DOP
- to taste salt
Tools
- 1 Pot 3 qt
- 1 Pot 2 qt
- 1 Chopping board
- 1 Knife
Method
Chestnut risotto is an autumn classic, here’s how to prepare it.
First, I recommend starting with the chestnuts. If you’ve purchased pre-boiled and peeled chestnuts, you’re good to go. If you’re starting from fresh chestnuts, you need to boil them (see the complete steps here) by cutting a cross into them, boiling, and then peeling.
To further enhance the flavor of your chestnut risotto, I recommend preparing a vegetable broth flavored with chestnuts.
The process is quite simple: just let the chestnuts soak in the broth while it cooks and as you add it to the risotto, so the flavor will be more intense.
Now let’s begin preparing the risotto! Toast the rice in a pan over high heat for a couple of minutes. There’s no need to toast the rice for too long, or it will burn and taste bitter.
Once the risotto is toasted, deglaze it with white wine, stir it, and let it evaporate over medium heat for a couple of minutes. It’s important that the wine evaporates to leave the aroma and flavor of the wine but not the acidity.
Add the hot broth gradually so that it is absorbed by the rice grains. Cold broth would stop the cooking process, ruining the risotto.
Continue cooking for the time indicated on the package (from 13 to 17 minutes), adding the broth as it is absorbed.
When there are 5 minutes left until the end of the risotto’s cooking time, add the boiled chestnuts with which you’ve flavored the broth. The chestnuts may be crumbly and fall apart in the rice, but that’s not a problem; they’ll add even more flavor.
Reserve some boiled chestnuts for the final plate decoration.
Off the heat, add the butter and cheese, stir again, and let it rest for a couple of minutes before serving.
Your chestnut risotto is ready!
Serving Suggestions:
Decorate the dish with boiled chestnuts and you can also add some thyme leaves for a more intense note.
Wine Pairing for Chestnut Risotto:
Chestnuts pair well with both red and white wine. For this risotto, I offer both options: a classic noble wine like Barolo or a bold white like Roero Arnais.
