Warm salad of chestnuts, apple & sage

I love autumn and the change in vegetables and fruits, as well as the colder nights and return to heartier dishes. This is lovely as a first course, or as an accompaniment to roast pork or even a slab of sheep’s milk cheese…

Warm salad of chestnuts, apple & sage

Fresh from the garden: chestnuts, apples, red onion, lettuces, sage
Recipe source: Melissa
Serves: 6 or 24 tastes

What to do:

• Preheat oven to 180C.
• Carefully cut a small cross in the base of each chestnut. Place on a baking tray and roast in the oven for about 20 minutes until soft.
• Meanwhile, separate out the lettuce leaves and wash thoroughly in several bowls of cold water. Spin-dry and then break or chop up the leaves into mouth-sized pieces. Wrap the leaves in a paper towel-lined tea towel and store in the fridge until you need them.
• Wash and spin-dry the sage leaves. Wash the radishes & slice them with the mandoline.
• Wash and wipe the apples dry, then using the corer, cut out the apple cores. Cut in half, then crossways into thin 5mm slices.
• Peel the onion, cut it in half and then thinly slice it using the mandoline.
• Heat the butter in the frying pan over medium heat. Add the sage leaves and cook until crisp, stirring & then transfer to a plate lined with paper towel.
• Then add the apple slices to the frying pan and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until apples are golden and tender. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the apple slices to a plate.
• Add the onion to the frying pan and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes until soft.
• Carefully slide the chestnuts out of the oven & leave to cool for 5 minutes until cool enough to handle. Peel away the shells and the light brown skin and break into pieces. Set aside.
• Bring out the leaves from the fridge and drop into a large bowl. Drizzle with a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, add a pinch of flaked salt and grind of pepper. Gently toss with your fingers, then add the radishes, apple slices & chestnut pieces and divide among serving bowls. Finish off by garnishing with the crispy sage leaves.

Infernal chestnuts!