Classic Italian Sage Chestnut Sauce is the most vintage Italian sauce Recipe, with chestnuts, pancetta, garlic and white wine, so move over tomato sauce!
Classic Italian Sage Chestnut Sauce
This classic sauce of brown butter, sage and chestnuts, a drizzle of white wine and a little salty pancetta is perfect for a simple pasta dish or to drizzle over another classic; rabbit!
You will fast discover this sauce to become an Autumn or Winter addition to your pasta, meat or meatless dishes.
Sage Chestnut Sauce
The first time I experimented with this sauce, it was to go over my Chocolate Chili Pasta.
Undoubtedly the flavors paired perfectly with the earthy heat of cacao and chilies.
I decided It was time this sauce carved out it’s own place on my blog for a variety of ways I intend to use it.
Easy To Grow Sage
Growing sage in my garden, has fast become one of my favorite herbs to grow, mostly because it is rarely screaming for my attention and it often remains throughout the winter.
Overall, I find the scent and flavor is beautiful. I have even found leaves still alive in the dead of winter.
Many of us know sage for its intense aromatic flavor and scent.
We often think of sage, here in America, with Thanksgiving turkey dishes, something I made in under 90-minutes on PBS The Great American Recipe.
It was a hit with the judges and now my recipe is in their cookbook!
Since Italian cuisine uses sage in so many ways, I thought it was time we Americans discover its beautiful flavor in a versatile sauce.
Preparing Sage For Recipes
It might seem a simple thing to do, ‘chop leaves’ when preparing herbs for a recipe.
However, learning a fast and easy technique professional chefs use, makes the job easy, more attractive and exposes the most flavor from inside the herb leaves.
Here you go!
Chestnuts – The Classic Italian Nut
Who cares what part of Italy you think this sauce comes from, chestnuts, sage, pancetta are used all over Italy, in a variety of recipes.
If it is the season to buy fresh chestnuts in the market, you will need to roast them, and peel them.
I have learned (the hard way), to drop them in boiling water for a minute, then roast them on a baking sheet. They peel easier this way.
Consequently, I now do the same thing with the acorns that drop in my yard, and have made a flour from them and into a delicious cookie!
How To Buy Chestnuts
Regardless, chestnuts can be found in gourmet markets, already roasted and peeled.
Occasionally I’ve found them in either an airtight pouch or a can, year round.
If buying chestnuts raw, they have a few steps to prepare them for recipes, but so worth the extra work.
Creamy Savory Chestnut Sauce
Overall, this sauce comes together in minutes, once the chestnuts are roasted.
Your gourmet dinner will look like you’ve slaved away in the kitchen all day, therefore, you will still have plenty of time to get all dolled up without breaking a sweat when it’s time to finalize your dish!
What To Serve With Sage Chestnut Sauce
Since this sauce would be perfect to serve with leftover chicken or turkey, I thought it an ideal sauce with Roasted Rabbit.
My recipe for Homemade Egg Pasta, stirred into the sauce, once it is prepared, is a traditional Italian way of enjoying this sauce.
Do you want something more extravagant? Definitely try your hand at making my Chocolate Chili Pasta to serve with it.
It was the first dish I made to pair with this rich and very traditional sauce and I promise that homemade pasta can be so easy to make that I taught my grandchildren to make it.
Equipment Needed
- Cutting board
- Chopping knife
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Large saute pan
- Slotted spoon
- Stovetop or burner
Ingredients Needed
- Butter
- Garlic
- Mascarpone
- Half and half
- Dry white wine
- Fresh sage
- Pancetta or bacon
- Salt and pepper
- Chestnuts – either roasted and peeled at home or already roasted and peeled.
Other Classic Italian Chestnut Recipes To Love
Once you’ve stocked up on fresh raw chestnuts in the autumn, there are so many recipes I’ll bet you’ve never tasted before.
A classic dessert in Italy, particularly around the Tuscan area, is a torta (cake), made from the chestnut flour.
Having taken the time to roast and peel the chestnuts, only one more step, grinding the chestnuts in a food processor, open the door to so many other sweet chestnut recipes.
Here are just two of my favorites you are bound to love also:
- Classic Italian Chestnut Coffee Torta – a popular Tuscan cake, of chestnuts, cacao, and coffee, laced with a little rum, and chocolate, if you must!
- Salt Caramel Chestnut Cookies – with salt caramel filling and a wild splash of chocolate are not your grandma’s Christmas cookies.
Classic Italian Sage Chestnut Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups Chestnuts roasted, shelled and cut into quarters
- 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 3 Garlic cloves crushed
- 8 oz Mascarpone or cream cheese
- 3/4 cup Half and Half
- 1/2 cup Dry white wine
- 2 tbsp Fresh sage chopped, some whole for garnish
- 1 cup Pancetta or bacon cooked and crumbled
- Salt and pepper – to taste
Instructions
- In a medium size sauté pan, melt the butter, toss in the garlic and chestnuts. Stir until chestnuts take on a golden color.
- Add the mascarpone, cream, wine, sage and seasoning. Fold gently until the mascarpone melts and the sauce becomes creamy.
- Fold in the pancetta. The sauce is now ready to use as you choose.
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