Monte Bianco (Italian) or Mont Blanc (French)

Ingredients

500g Peeled Chestnuts

• 600 ml milk
• 1 cup (250 ml) sugar
• 2 vanilla beans

Sauce

• 500 ml Milk
• 4 egg yolks
• ½ cup (125ml) sugar
• 1 vanilla bean

Method

1. Cook chestnuts slowly in the milk with the sugar and vanilla until all of the liquid has been absorbed (this should take between 1 – 1½ hours . Allow the mix to cool. Remove the vanilla beans.
2. Press onto individual plates, the mix through a potato ricer or mouli (special ricers are available from gourmet food shops) to form long spaghetti like strands that pile over each other to form a mountain. 

Sauce 

1. Cream the egg yolks and sugar in a stainless steel bowl.
2. Bring milk to the boil with the vanilla and pour onto the eggs, whisking constantly.
3. Cook over a boiling pot of water until the mix is thick. 

To Serve

1. Pool the sauce around the base of your ‘mountain’.
2. Top with whipped cream and shavings of chocolate. 

Bellissimo!