Puy lentils, chestnuts and gorgonzola salad

My time in Italy has now compressed to a collective of memories. Memories of food and friends, markets and restaurants and local and seasonal prodotti tipici.

Thankfully, food allows me to go back to a particular place in time and taste the memory all over, as if I was right there and then. Take this winter salad, for example: I was living in Firenze as part of my internship. Almost everyday would start in a short stroll to the market on the way to work. I’d fill my reusable bag with seasonal goodies in preparation for dinner and upon my return from work, in the early hours of the evening, I’d experiment in the shoebox that was my kitchen.

This is what this salad tastes of and it proved itself a keeper, standing the test of time. I recently made and wrote about on my weekly column and here it is again, worthy, in my eyes, of another post. It has Italy in autumn written all over it, and while you may say fall is long gone, the weather in this part of the world resembles a mild fall, even now, on the threshold of February.

When chestnuts are in season this salad can either serve as a side dish or a light meal in itself. The Gorgonzola melts into the hot lentils and coats the salad in a rich creamy dressing. Combined with the chestnuts and shallots, its nothing short of a celebratory nostalgic get- together in my mouth.

As per usual, the key to a fine result depends on the quality of the raw ingredients, ie. You might want to invest in raw chestnuts that require attentive boiling and peeling and a good Gorgonzola.

Puy lentils, chestnuts and gorgonzola salad

serves 2-4

400 grams chestnuts, with a shiny, tight, dark brown skin

1½ cups puy lentils

1-2 bay leaves

2-3 shallots or 1 red onion, chopped finely

75 gram Gorgonzola (dolce or piccante, as you like), crumbled

Sea salt, to taste

Freshly ground white pepper, to taste

Extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp rosemary needles

With a sharp knife make an X cut in the skin on the flat side of each chestnuts.

Simmer in a pan with boiling water for 15 minutes.

Peel the chestnuts taking care to remove both the outer shell as well as the inner brown membrane. It's much more simple to peel them when they're still hot, so work in small batches, keeping the chestnuts in the hot water.

Place the lentils in a saucepan and cover with water. Add the bay leaves, cover and bring to a boil. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes, until the lentils are soft.

Strain the cooked lentils and place in a bowl.

While the lentils are still warm add the peeled chestnuts, chopped shallots and the Gorgonzola cheese. The hot lentils will cause the cheese to melt into a thick dressing. Stir well.

Season with salt, pepper and olive oil, taste and adjust seasoning, if needed.

Sprinkle the rosemary on top and serve, still warm.

Gorgonzola and chestnut bowl

I blinked and it was over. Summer is gone and its freezing as if it were January. In a panic I crave comfort in winter food- soups, stews, porridge and ice cream. Chestnut festivals are taking place across Tuscany, as is the chocolate festival in Perugia.

It turns that it is possible to becomes accustomed to medieval city centres, picturesque piazzas and magnificent rural settings. On the busiest day of the year Perugia is, well, extremely crowded. It’s a chocolate mayhem, and people are stocking up- dark, milk & white chocolate, bonbons, puddings, crepes and waffles, chocolate ‘shawarma’ and kebabs, chocolate salamis, churros, pasta, and I could go on. Half a banana dipped in dark chocolate, rolled in hazelnut croquante and skewed on a stick later, and I was out.

After escaping the crowds we spent the time left before the train was due in a Chinese shop by the station. My loot from the day of chocolate: two sachets of udon noodles soup, a Chinese pear and a moon cake baked in a Prato Chinese bakery (So many things are wrong with that sentence…).

The pear tasted as if it were trying to pass itself as an apple, and the moon cake had what seemed like an egg yolk in the centre. Traditionally it should be there, but the only ingredient on the list that could be it was a reference to pumpkin, so I’m going with that. Especially since the expiration date is in a couple of months…

This little salad, I thought it a salad, but it didnt seem right, having no vegetables in it, so it changed to a starter, but it would also work as a dessert (substitute olive oil, salt & pepper with a drizzle of honey and a caramelized fig), so I settled on 'bowl'. make it your own.

Gorgonzola & chestnut bowl

(Serves 2 as a starter)

Ingredients

250g Chestnuts

40g Gorgonzola (sweet or piquant)

Olive oil

Salt & Pepper

Cut an X into one side of the chestnuts.


Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and boil gently for 15-20 minutes.

The longer the nuts cook, the mealier the kernels become and tend to crumble when removed from the shells.

Peel the shells and the skin from the nuts.

Drizzle the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Crumble the Gorgonzola and add to the bowl.

Note: A glass of wine is almost compulsory.