Sweet Chestnuts can be cooked or stored and are very nutrtitious.

The Sweet Chestnut Tree (latin name – Castanea sativa) grows to a height of about 30m.

The Sweet Chestnut produces spiny fruit which encase the edible chestnut, traditionally roasted in bonfires

 This is How To Store Sweet Chestnuts:

• dry nuts in a very low oven until hard
• store in a dry jar in a cool, dark cupboard
• dry chestnuts will keep for years
• to reconstitute dry nuts, put in boiling water to cover for an hour or so and use as recipe.

sweet-chestnut-tree

sweet-chestnuts

The nutritional value of sweet chestnuts is high:

• the only nut containing vitamin C
• full of fibre – 4.1gfibre/100g chestnut
• trace elements including potassium, iron, zinc and manganese
• gluten free
• no cholesterol
• calories in 50g serving (5 chestnuts) = 85kcal
• low in fat – 2.7g fat/100g – less than 1/3 of the calories of pistachios

To Cook a Chestnut snack:

• roast for 20 minutes in a hot oven until the skin comes off
• peel
• eat pure or cover with favourite seasoning

 It is fun collecting the nutritious sweet chestnuts at this time of year; they can be cooked or stored.