Nigel Slater's Recipes for Red Leaves, Warm Cheese and Chestnuts, and for Chocolate Chestnut Cake

The chestnuts are here: dark, plump and shiny - and flat on one side from where they've nestled in their prickly green cases. Chestnuts grew in the woods near my childhood home. I put them in the pockets of my duffel on my way home from school. We roasted them over the fire, one of them cracking occasionally like a whip, sending a spray of nut shards.

Best, I think, is to roast them in an oven. A deep cross on their rounded side will prevent them from exploding and expose their flesh to heat. This is how I cook them to eat them as they are, without worrying about removing the brown skin. It's hard work, however, if you intend to puree them or use them in a dessert. I always go for the ready-made mash and the vacuum-packed whole nuts. They can be folded into a Christmas nut bun, tossed with the flavors of a braised bird, or in the filling of a pie or chocolate cake.

The chestnut puree might not be much to look at, but throw in enough icing sugar, meringue and melted chocolate and you have one of the world's classic pairings. This saves a lot of work for the cook. Every year I look forward to the new season's candied chestnuts, with their melting texture, their coating of frost and their origami-style golden wrappers. I hope to have some in my stocking.

Chestnut leaves are long and thin with serrated edges, and are often used to wrap goat cheese. You can cook one whole, in its foil, then unwrap it and watch the melted cheese ooze out. You'll need crispy toast on the side or russet apple slices, toasted walnuts and a bunch of bitter leaves.

Red leaves, hot cheese and chestnuts

Find small cheeses wrapped in fig leaves for this if you can. Or use foil to wrap your cheeses instead. For 4 people

chestnuts 200ggoat cheese 4, about 80g each by weight treviso, radicchio and other red chicory 100g totalpears 200gbeetroot 1, small wine raw red vinegar 2 tbsp garlic 1 small clove of olive oil 3 tbsp Dijon mustard 1 tsp

Cut a cross on each chestnut, then place them , in a single layer, in a roasting pan. Bake for 25 minutes at 180°C/thermostat 4, until the exposed nut is light golden brown, then remove from the oven, cover with a kitchen towel and leave to rest for 15 minutes. Remove the walnuts from their shells - I'm not too picky at removing the brown skin - and crumble them or cut them into small pieces.

If your cheeses come with of a fig leaf wrapper, so it's all for the good. Alternatively, place the cheeses on a piece of aluminum foil, roll it up loosely and crease the edges together. Bake them (they can share an oven with the chestnuts) for about 15 minutes until the cheese starts to ooze.

Prepare the dressing: peel and mash garlic paste with a pinch of salt. Put the dough in a small bowl, pour the vinegar and leave for 10 minutes. Add the mustard to the vinegar, then stir in the olive oil with a fork.

Wash the leaves and tear them into large pieces. Cut the pears into 4 or 6 pieces, depending on size – cut out and discard the cores. Peel and slice the beet. Toss the peeled pears, beets and chestnuts with the vinaigrette and leave until the cheeses are ready.

Place the lettuce leaves on a serving platter, add the pears; pour dressing over leaves. Place melted cheese on top.

Chocolate Chestnut Cake