Chestnut risotto with toma cheese is the ultimate north-Italian autumn dish. Chestnuts are in season during what is, to me, the best time of the year. Fall foliage, Indian summer, chilly mornings - autumn brings a joy that I find hard to explain. Part of it might be because the colder season is just around the corner and that means we can go back to eating heavier and richer dishes, like this heavenly risotto with toma cheese.
This chestnut risotto is a celebration of the place where I grew up. I was raised on toma, buttery risotto and, at the right time of the year, chestnuts. I cannot imagine of a better way to pay tribute to the land I come from, a valley in northern Italy that cuts through big mountains adorned with chestnut trees and cow pastures. Let me take you on a trip home. But first, let's have a Campari spritz!
This chestnut risotto is almost vegetarian. I choose to use beef broth, as I find it has a nice depth to go in here, but that would be the only meat product in the ingredient list. So just swab meat broth for vegetable one and this recipe is completely vegetarian. While you could make it vegan, that would mean cutting out toma cheese, which is one of the key ingredients here. You can of course do it, but the flavour will be different.
Ingredients & Equipment
- Chestnuts - they need to be boiled and peeled, you can make this step the day before
- Toma - see tips below for substitutions
- Risotto rice - I have used Arborio here
- Shallot - or yellow onion
- White wine
- Beef broth - it has a deeper flavour, but vegetable broth is also ok
- Butter
- Olive oil
- Parmesan - it's optional! The dish is very cheesy also without
- Salt
- Bay leaf - for the chestnut cooking water
- Thyme - I choose fresh, but a sprinkle of dried will also work.
For detailed quantities, please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
To make chestnut risotto you will need a mixing bowl and a pot for boiling the chestnuts. A paring knife to peel them. A small pot to warm up the broth. A cutting board and a knife. Two pans (if you have different sized pans, use the larger one for the risotto), better if with a thick bottom. A wooden spoon.
How to make chestnut Risotto with toma
1. Add the chestnuts to a bowl and submerge in cold water. Discard any floating chestnuts as they might be bad. Let rest for 30 minutes. After that, drain and add chestnuts to a pot with 3 liters fresh water and 2 bay leaves. Gently simmer for 45 minutes.
2. Peel the chestnuts removing the outer and inner skins. Keep whole chestnuts in their cooking water to prevent them from drying, it will make peeling easier. Reserve a couple whole chestnuts for decoration and break the others into smaller pieces.
3. In a smaller pan, warm up ⅓ of the butter, add the thyme and the chestnuts. Stir in a sprinkle of salt and sauté for a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat for the time being and keep covered.
4. Peel and mince the shallot. Add the olive oil and ⅓ of the butter to a pan set on medium heat. Add the shallot and rice, and cook stirring often until the shallot is soft and the rice translucent, 3-4 minutes. Pour in the wine and stir to evaporate.
5. Add enough broth so it covers the rice and simmer on medium heat until absorbed, then add more. Keep adding broth until it gets absorbed into the rice. When the rice is al dente but the overall texture is still slightly soupy, stir in the chestnuts.
6. Remove from the heat and stir in the diced toma and butter.
Serve the risotto and top each portion with a reserved whole chestnut, a fresh thyme sprig and a dusting of grated parmesan.
Chestnut Risotto with toma tips
Toma is a tasty cheese from north-western Italy that has a hard to semi-hard texture and a nutty flavour that can become quite strong with ageing. It is related to French Tomme, that is made in the Savoie region. Toma is excellent in food making, as it tolerates heat very well and melts without splitting. If you can't access either Italian Toma or French Tomme, I'd recommend to use Fontina or Taleggio.
Chestnuts add a lot of work to a recipe that would normally not take this long. But the good thing is that you can take care of the chestnuts in advance. They need to soak for a half hour, simmer for 45 minutes, and then should be peeled directly, when still warm. Peeling chestnuts is a very meditative job that can take up to an hour. So factor in about three hours for this preliminary step. If you happen to have cooked peeled chestnuts that you had prepared in advance and frozen, you will need 200 g for this recipe, which is about 1 ⅓ cup chopped (after reserving 3-4 for decoration).
You may not need to use up all the broth, your rice might be done before. Always taste-test for doneness. You may also not need to use any salt in the actual risotto, it depends on how salty your broth is. I have added some parmesan (Grana Padano is my preference) in the ingredient list, as many people love a dusting of grated parmesan on risotto, but even without this risotto is nicely cheesy.
More recipes for a chilly night in
Chestnuts have such a short season that you're highly likely reading this post on a day when autumn is in full swing, nights have become colder and staying in sounds more and more cozy and inviting this time of year. Here are some wonderful recipes to fill your belly on such days.
Swedish meatballs in cream sauce, maybe with some cheesy mashed potatoes? Or soup - a filling and flavourful meat soup with cavolo nero. How about a hot chocolate with Biscoff cookies? Or the most satifying of all, and a perfect one to use up any Toma leftovers: polenta concia! Click on the recipes below to learn more. Stay warm!
If you tried this recipe, let me know your thoughts in the comments. If you're planning to try it another time, pin this recipe to Pinterest. Please consider subscribing to my newsletter and following me on Instagram and on Pinterest.
Chestnut Risotto with Toma Cheese
Equipment
- 2 Pots
- 2 Pans
- Mixing bowl
- Cutting board
- Paring knife
- wooden spoon
Ingredients
- 500 g chestnut (or 200 g cooked and peeled)
- 130 g Toma
- 350 g risotto rice
- 1 shallot
- 100 ml white wine
- 1,5 L broth beef preferred, or vegetable
- 60 g butter
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 40 g parmesan (optional)
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 thyme sprigs
- salt to taste
Instructions
Preliminary step
- Add the chestnuts to a bowl and submerge in cold water. Discard any floating chestnuts as those are bad. Let rest for 30 minutes. After that, drain and add chestnuts to a pot with 3 liters fresh water and 2 bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then lower to medium and gently simmer for 45 minutes.
- Peel the chestnuts removing the outer and inner skins. Keep whole chestnuts in their cooking water to prevent them from drying, it will make peeling easier. Reserve a couple whole chestnuts for decoration and break the others into smaller pieces. Store airtight and refrigerated if making this step the day before.
Risotto instructions
- Warm up ⅓ of the butter in a pan, add the thyme and the chestnuts. Stir in a sprinkle of salt and sauté for a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat for the time being and keep covered.
- Peel and mince the shallot. Add the olive oil and ⅓ of the butter to another pan set on medium heat. Add the shallot and rice, and cook stirring often until the shallot is soft and the rice translucent, 3-4 minutes. Pour in the wine and stir to evaporate.
- Add enough broth so it covers the rice and simmer on medium heat until absorbed, then add more. Keep adding broth until it gets absorbed into the rice. When the rice is al dente but the overall texture is still slightly soupy, stir in the chestnuts. Remove from the heat and stir in the diced toma and butter.
- Serve the risotto and top each portion with a reserved whole chestnut, a fresh thyme sprig and a dusting of grated parmesan.
Notes
- Prepping the chestnuts adds time to a recipe that would normally not take this long. But the good thing is that you can take care of the chestnuts in advance. They need to soak for a half hour, simmer for 45 minutes, and then should be peeled directly, when still warm. Peeling chestnuts is a very meditative job that can take up to an hour. So factor in about three hours for this preliminary step. Store the peeled chestnuts airtight in the fridge for one day.
- If you have access to cooked and peeled chestnuts and can skip the preliminary step (maybe you've already done this before and frozen the chestnuts for later?). For this recipe you will need 200 g peeled, which is about 1 ¼ cup chopped (after reserving 3-4 for decoration).
