Vegan It seems the traditional Italian way to prepare chestnuts involves a gas burner and a special chestnut pan with holes in the bottom. In lieu of this, the oven (or a toaster oven) works just fine.
Following are instructions from: http://italianfood.about.com/b/a/046787.htm :
Preheat your oven to 425 F (210 C). Take your chestnuts and make a cut across the round side of each to keep them from exploding, and arrange them either on a rack or on a cookie sheet. Roast them until the skins have pulled back from the cuts and the nutmeats have softened (exactly how long will depend upon the chestnuts, but at least 15-20 minutes. Remove the nuts from the oven, make a mound of them in an old towel, wrap them up, squeeze them hard -- they should crackle -- and let them sit for a few minutes.
Open a bottle of vino Novello (or Beaujolais Nouveau), open the towel, pour yourself a glass, peel the skin off the first chestnut, and enjoy. - Updated: January 16, 2007
