The Hackney Butchers Association

1. Give them a good wash under the tap. 2. Cut a cross on one side of the chesnuts with a stanley knife. I do the round side but it really doesn't matter. You can use a sharp kitchen knife but you may blunt it. If you don't do this, they can explode. BANG! Like hardcore popcorn. 3. Roast in a single layer in a preheated 220°C oven for 15-25mins. Basically until they look done... 4. Scrunch them up in a clean tea towel & let them cool a bit. Then peel.  Throw away any really tough ones. 5. Eat.......   or use in a recipe such as   "Roasted Chestnut & Chorizo Soup".    Now we're talking.

It's sweet and it's spicy.  Damn. This is one of the best soups I've ever had. It's amazing. It's extremely rich, warming & filling, a meal in itself. It's something like a stew or cassoulet. Before this I didn't really like chestnuts, now I'm a convert... 1 big red onion, finely sliced 1 carrot, finely diced 1 celery stick, finely sliced 2 cooking chorizo sausages, cut into 1cm chunks 1 tsp ground cumin 2 tsp ground fresh thyme 2 dried red chillies 2 tomatoes / 1 can plum tomatoes 500g roasted chestnuts , roughly chopped a pinch of saffron 1 liter just boiled water Drop the saffron into the boiled water and leave to infuse. Fry the onion,carrot, celery, chorizo & a pinch of salt for 20mins, until caramelized. Then add garlic, cumin, thyme, & chilli. Cook for 1 minute, before adding tomato for 2mins, then the chestnuts. Give it a good stir & then add the saffron water. Simmer for 10mins & then mash or pu...