This weekend a friend of mine came for a visit and we spent all day Saturday doing what we love best: spending time in the kitchen, going through cookbooks and talking. We were actually "working" so it wasn't all play. I gave her some tips on how to take pictures of food, we talked about a project we are working on together and we cooked together. A good chance to try something new.

When I was in Italy, I brought back a bag of chestnut flour, thinking I'd make bread or cake or cookies with it. Chestnuts are slightly sweet and when made into cake or bread, have a very nutty taste. I few weeks ago I checked out a book from the library on chestnuts and saw that there is so much more that can be done with chestnuts, apart from roasting them or using them in bread and cakes. One recipe was for chestnut pasta. This weekend was too good a chance to pass up making that! The following recipe is from that book.

Photo by A. Medwedeff

Chestnut Pasta with Herbed Cream Sauce (serves 4)

200 g chestnut flour

200 g spelt flour

4 eggs

1 tsp salt

1-2 Tbs olive oil

Sauce

2 Tbs butter

2 small onions, chopped

1 Tbs chopped rosemary

4 sage leaves, chopped

1 tsp chopped, oregano

200 ml vegetable stock

1 Tbs cornstarch

200 g cream

salt and pepper

Parmesan, grated

Place all the ingredients for the pasta in a mixer and mix until a soft dough comes together. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and let it sit for 1-2 hours at room temperature

If you have a pasta machine, use it to make the desired pasta shape. I made fettuccine type pasta. If you do't have a pasta machine, roll the dough until very thin and cut into the desired shape. Dry on a baking sheet covered with a dish towel for about 30 minutes.

To make the sauce, place the onions, herbs and the butter in a heavy skillet and sautée. Add the stock, cornstarch and cream. Simmer until the sauce has the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper. You may wish to purée the sause before serving.

Cook the pasta in boiling water for about 5 minutes. Serve with the cream sauce and a little bit of Parmesan.

For dessert, I took 4 rounds of pre-cut puff pastry which I made last week and bogged about here. I made a hazelnut frangipane and topped them with French Plums (they are called Zwetschgen here), which are in season right now. I made a rather large amount of frangipane and filled 2 ramekins with the remaining paste and topped them with plums. Both were very good.

Photo by A. Medwedeff