Chestnut Spread

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The meal is served on a green wooden table: a loaf of bread with chestnut spread, sprinkled with fresh chopped chives. The bread lies on a green plate, next to it a used wooden knife. Behind is a green glass with water, a preserving jar with the chestnut spread, and a flat black bowl with the chopped chives; further in the background is a flat wooden bowl with a sliced loaf of bread and a green linen kitchen towel. Scattered around everything are fresh chestnuts in shells.

You can make a lot of great recipes with chestnuts. From breads to sweet desserts, there are a ton of possibilities. Today, it’s time for a delicious savory chestnut spread! Chestnuts are naturally high in sugar, so when you add some vegetables and onions, the result is a multi-layered flavor experience!
I’ve also recently made a sweet chestnut spread, which you can check out here: Creme de Marrons recipe.

Ingredients for making Chestnut Spread:

On a green wooden table are the ingredients for chestnut spread, a green bowl with fresh chestnuts, a glass jug with soy cream, two smaller jugs with rapeseed oil and olive oil, a bowl with tahini, a piece of celery, a carrot, a shallot, a small bowl with sugar beet molasses. A roughly carved wooden spoon carries salt. A few chestnuts are scattered among the bowls and vegetables. A green linen kitchen towel lies in the background.

Chestnuts (either peeled & packaged or freshly foraged)
Celery
Carrot
Shallot
Water
Soy cream (or oat cream)
Sugar beet molasses (or maple syrup)
Tahini
Salt
Olive oil
Rapeseed oil

Needed Equipment:

Hand blender
4 x 100ml preservation jars

Of course, it is a special experience to work with fruits you have collected yourself, but you can also use pre-cooked, vacuum-packed chestnuts, which is the more convenient way of making this recipe. This recipe yields 400ml of chestnut spread, which I canned in two 200ml jars – next time, I would use even smaller jars because once opened, the cream only lasts about 1-2 weeks in the fridge.

How to make Chestnut Spread:

Preparing the Collected Chestnuts:

If you have bought pre-packaged chestnuts, you can skip this step.

A raffia trivet with an orange pot lies on a green wooden table. Hot water is poured into the pot, which is filled with fresh chestnuts.

A close look at two hands holding an edible chestnut with one hand and scoring the chestnut with the other using a large serrated knife. The chestnut lies on a wooden kitchen board.

Boil the fresh chestnuts in a saucepan until they are soft (mine took 30 minutes). Drain the water and leave the chestnuts to cool briefly, then take each one individually, cut it in half, and scrape them out with a teaspoon. You can always use this quick method if you do not need whole chestnuts for further processing.

Cooking the Chestnut Spread:

Start by washing the carrot and peel the celery and shallot. Everything is then chopped into small pieces, just like the chestnuts.

Chopped shallots lie on a wooden board, two hands hold a large knife and cut the shallots into small pieces.

The palm of one hand is filled with a mountain of finely chopped carrots. The hand lies on a wooden board, the blade of a large knife hovers in the air.

Now, we take a small saucepan and heat the olive oil. Add all the chopped vegetables, chestnuts, salt, and 30 ml water, and simmer with the lid on until the vegetables are soft.

A raffia trivet with a stainless steel pot lies on a green wooden table. One hand holds a jar with olive oil and add it to the pot. In the backgrouns is a green bowl with chopped vegetables.

A raffia trivet with a stainless steel pot lies on a green wooden table. In the pot is the chopped mixture of vegetables, a hand holds a green bowl over the pot, the bowl is filled with chopped vegetables. One hand holds a wooden spatula and lifts the chestnuts into the pot.

When all the ingredients are soft, remove the pan from the heat and add the vegan cream, one tsp of sugar beet molasses, tahini, and rapeseed oil. Now it’s time to use the hand blender and blend everything until you have a nice creamy consistency.

A raffia trivet with a stainless steel pot lies on a green wooden table. In it is the ready-cooked mixture for the Chestnut Spread. Hot steam rises from the pot.

A raffia trivet with a stainless steel pot lies on a green wooden table. In the pot is the ready -cooked mixture of vegetables, on top is vegan cream. One hand holds a jar with vegan cream and add it to the pot.

Finally, pour the spread into our clean little preserving jars and try the delicious chestnut spread on a toasted slice of bread (perhaps on our Chestnut bread)!

A raffia trivet with a stainless steel pot lies on a green wooden table. In it are the cooked ingredients for the Chestnut Spread. A hand blender purées the mixture into a puree.

A raffia trivet with a stainless steel pot lies on a green wooden table. In it are the blended ingredients for the Chestnut Spread. A hand blender purees the mixture into a fine cream.

I hope you enjoyed this chestnut spread recipe. Let me know what you think in the comments below!

What is the shelf life of the spread?

That depends on several factors. Firstly, it is important to work very cleanly. For example, I always rinse the clean jars and lids with boiling water before preserving. Before closing the jars, wipe the edges with kitchen paper to ensure that no residue sticks to the rim or the screw thread. If not properly canned, the spread should last for at least a week if stored in the fridge. I have even stored jars in the freezer, where they can last for over a month. Make sure to fill them only for 3/4 if freezing them! Once a jar is opened, it should be kept in the refrigerator and consumed within a week.

How can I tell if the spread is still good?

Since we don’t have a best-before date, I recommend using all your senses:
1. Look: Check the surface to see if it looks as it did when you put it in the jar. If you notice anything growing that doesn’t belong there, discard the entire contents of the jar.
2. Smell: If the spread has gone bad, it will have an unpleasant smell.
3. Taste: As a final precaution, try a small amount with the tip of a knife. Your tongue will tell you if it’s still delicious.