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Mushroom & Chestnut Rotolo Recipe | Easy Italian

ByLumina Liu August 16, 2025August 11, 2025

It was 2019, and I had this brilliant idea to make something “sophisticated” – you know, the kind of dish that would prove I wasn’t just the woman who married their son for his Netflix password.

I’d been scrolling through British food magazines (because apparently I thought adding an accent to my cooking would make it classier), when I stumbled upon this mushroom & chestnut rotolo recipe that looked like something you’d order at a fancy restaurant.

The kind of place where they give you three forks and you’re never quite sure which one to use first.

The problem was, I’d never made rotolo before.

I’d barely made regular lasagna without turning it into a hot mess of cheese and tears.

But there I was, three hours before dinner, with a kitchen counter covered in what looked like the aftermath of a mushroom explosion, desperately trying to roll pasta sheets that kept tearing like wet tissue paper.

My husband found me sitting on the kitchen floor, holding a particularly stubborn piece of lasagne, quietly contemplating whether Domino’s delivered on Christmas.

That’s when something magical happened – I stopped trying to make it perfect and just focused on making it good.

And you know what?

It was more than good.

It was the kind of dish that makes people ask for the recipe three times and then actually write it down.

The Ultimate Mushroom & Chestnut Rotolo Recipe That Actually Works

Rotolo, for those who haven’t ventured into this particular corner of Italian comfort food, is essentially lasagna’s more elegant cousin – the one who went to finishing school and learned proper table manners.

Instead of layering everything in a big rectangular dish, you roll individual pasta sheets with filling, creating these beautiful spiral packages that look like you spent way more effort than you actually did.

It’s the culinary equivalent of wearing a blazer over jeans – instantly more sophisticated, but still fundamentally approachable.

This particular mushroom & chestnut rotolo recipe comes from British cuisine’s wonderful habit of taking Italian techniques and adding their own earthy, seasonal twist.

The combination of wild mushrooms and chestnuts is pure autumn comfort – rich, nutty, and deeply satisfying in that way that makes you want to curl up with a good book and pretend you’re in a cozy countryside cottage.

The chestnuts add this incredible creaminess when blitzed into a sauce, while the whole ones provide little pockets of sweet, nutty texture that play beautifully against the meaty mushrooms.

What I love most about this dish is how it manages to be both rustic and refined.

You’re working with humble ingredients – mushrooms, chestnuts, herbs – but the technique elevates everything into something that feels special without being precious.

It’s the kind of food that says “I care enough to make something beautiful” without screaming “I spent my entire weekend shopping for ingredients you’ve never heard of.”

The Complete Mushroom & Chestnut Rotolo Recipe

This recipe serves 6-8 people and takes about 2 hours from start to finish, though a good chunk of that is hands-off baking time.

Don’t let the length intimidate you – most of it is just letting things simmer and meld together while you catch up on your podcast backlog.

Ingredients:

• 30g dried mushrooms (porcini work beautifully here)
• 240g chestnuts, cooked and peeled (yes, you can use the vacuum-packed ones – life’s too short)
• 3 shallots, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 500g mixed wild mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 125ml white wine
• 350g fresh lasagne sheets
• 4 tbsp breadcrumbs
• 1/2 handful fresh sage leaves
• 6 tbsp olive oil, divided
• Truffle oil for serving (optional, but lovely)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparing Your Mise en Place

Before you start cooking, take a moment to get everything ready – this is one of those recipes where having everything prepped makes the difference between a smooth cooking experience and a frantic scramble.

Soak your dried mushrooms in 350ml of boiling water and set them aside to rehydrate.

This is going to become part of your sauce, so don’t throw away that mushroom-scented liquid gold.

While those are soaking, take 3/4 of your chestnuts (about 180g) and blitz them in a food processor with 150ml of water until you have a smooth, creamy mixture.

It should look like a pale, nutty cream – think of it as chestnut milk, if chestnut milk were a thing.

Roughly chop the remaining chestnuts into chunky pieces.

You want some texture here, little nuggets of sweetness that will surprise you in each bite.

Building the Mushroom Mixture

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in your largest non-stick frying pan (and I mean the biggest one you own – you’ll thank me later when you’re not trying to cook 500g of mushrooms in a pan the size of a dinner plate).

Add the chopped shallots with a generous pinch of salt and cook them gently until they’re soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

There’s something deeply satisfying about this step – the gentle sizzle, the way the shallots slowly surrender their sharp bite and become sweet and mellow.

Add the minced garlic, chopped chestnuts, and rosemary sprigs, cooking for another 2 minutes until everything smells absolutely incredible.

Your kitchen should smell like a forest floor in the best possible way.

Now add the wild mushrooms, another 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and season generously with salt and pepper.

Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin to release their liquid and soften.

Drain your rehydrated mushrooms (save every drop of that soaking liquid!), roughly chop them, and add them to the pan along with the soy sauce.

Yes, soy sauce in an Italian-inspired dish – trust the process.

It adds this incredible depth of umami that makes everything taste more mushroom-y than mushrooms alone.

Cook for another 2 minutes, stirring everything together.

Creating the Sauce

Here’s where the magic happens.

In a bowl, whisk together the white wine, the reserved mushroom soaking liquid, and that beautiful chestnut cream you made earlier.

Season this mixture with salt and pepper, then add half of it to your mushroom mixture in the pan.

Cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, until the sauce becomes glossy and starts to coat everything.

Remove and discard the rosemary sprigs – they’ve done their job, and nobody wants to bite down on a woody stem mid-meal.

Set this mushroom mixture aside while you prep your pasta.

This is a good moment to taste and adjust seasoning.

The mixture should be rich and complex, with layers of earthy mushroom flavor, sweet chestnuts, and aromatic herbs.

Assembling Your Rotolo

Preheat your oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.

This next part requires a bit of finesse, but don’t stress – even imperfect rotolo tastes amazing.

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil and prepare a large bowl of ice water.

You’re going to partially cook the lasagne sheets, just enough to make them pliable for rolling.

Working with the Pasta Sheets

Drop the lasagne sheets into the boiling water for exactly 2 minutes – set a timer, because pasta waits for no one.

They should be pliable and slightly cooked but still have some firmness to them.

Immediately transfer them to the ice water using tongs or a slotted spoon.

This stops the cooking process and makes them easier to handle.

Using your fingers (yes, this is a hands-on job), carefully separate the sheets and transfer them to a clean tea towel.

Pat them gently – they’re delicate right now, like pasta-shaped butterflies that haven’t quite figured out how to fly yet.

Spread a generous spoonful of your mushroom mixture on the bottom two-thirds of each sheet, leaving the top third bare for rolling.

Now comes the fun part: rolling away from yourself, gently roll up each sheet starting from the shorter end.

Don’t worry if they’re not perfectly tight or if a little filling escapes – rustic is the goal here, not perfection.

Cut each roll in half and position them cut-side up in a pie dish that you’re happy to serve from.

If you have leftover mushroom mixture, just tuck it into the exposed ends of the rolls.

The Final Bake

Pour the remaining sauce over the top of your assembled rotolo – it should look like little pasta pinwheels nestled in a pool of creamy, mushroom-scented sauce.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the pasta meets no resistance.

While that’s baking, mix together the breadcrumbs, remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, sage leaves, and a good pinch of salt and pepper.

After the initial 10 minutes, scatter this mixture over the rotolo and bake for another 10 minutes until the top is golden and the sage leaves are crispy.

Pro Tips for Rotolo Success

After making this mushroom & chestnut rotolo recipe more times than I care to admit (including several spectacular failures that taught me valuable lessons), here are the things that make the biggest difference:

Don’t Skip the Ice Bath

That ice water step isn’t just fancy chef nonsense – it’s the difference between pasta sheets that roll beautifully and pasta sheets that tear into sad, pasta-shaped confetti.

The shock of cold water stops the cooking process instantly and firms up the pasta just enough to make it workable.

Embrace Imperfection

Your rotolo doesn’t need to look like it came from a restaurant kitchen.

In fact, some of the most delicious ones I’ve made have looked decidedly homemade.

The filling might ooze out a bit, the rolls might not be perfectly uniform – that’s not a bug, it’s a feature.

It shows that real human hands made this with love, not a pasta-rolling machine.

Make It Ahead

This dish actually improves if you assemble it a few hours ahead and let it rest in the refrigerator before baking.

The flavors meld together, and the pasta absorbs some of the sauce, creating an even more cohesive dish.

Just add an extra 5-10 minutes to the baking time if you’re starting from cold.

Trust Your Mushroom Instincts

Different mushrooms release different amounts of liquid, so don’t panic if your mixture seems a bit wet or dry.

If it’s too wet, cook it a little longer to reduce the liquid.

If it’s too dry, add a splash more of the wine and mushroom liquid mixture.

Delicious Variations to Try

Once you’ve mastered the basic mushroom & chestnut rotolo recipe, there are endless ways to make it your own.

I’ve experimented with quite a few variations over the years, some more successful than others (let’s not talk about the time I tried to add blue cheese – it was…

a learning experience).

Spinach and Ricotta Addition

Fold in some wilted spinach and a dollop of ricotta cheese to the mushroom mixture for extra richness and a pop of green color.

This makes it feel more like traditional Italian comfort food while still maintaining those beautiful earthy flavors.

Butternut Squash Version

Replace half the chestnuts with roasted butternut squash for a slightly sweeter, more autumnal version.

The squash adds this lovely orange color and a different kind of sweetness that plays beautifully with the mushrooms.

Vegan Adaptation

Skip the traditional cheese additions (if you were planning to add any) and double down on the chestnuts for creaminess.

Add some nutritional yeast to the breadcrumb topping for a cheesy flavor without dairy.

Meat Lover’s Version

Brown some Italian sausage with the shallots for a heartier version that’ll satisfy even the most dedicated carnivores.

The sausage adds richness and a bit of spice that complements the earthy mushrooms beautifully.

What to Expect When You Make This

Let me be honest with you about what you’re signing up for here.

This mushroom & chestnut rotolo recipe isn’t a weeknight dinner – it’s a project, the kind of cooking that requires you to clear your afternoon and maybe open a bottle of wine while you work (purely for the chef, you understand).

Your kitchen will smell absolutely incredible while you’re making this.

We’re talking about the kind of aroma that makes your neighbors suddenly very interested in being friends.

The combination of sautéing mushrooms, fresh herbs, and toasted breadcrumbs is basically aromatherapy for food lovers.

The end result is something that looks impressive enough for company but tastes like home.

It’s rich without being heavy, elegant without being fussy.

The pasta has this wonderful al dente bite, the filling is creamy and earthy with little bursts of sweet chestnut, and that crispy sage and breadcrumb topping adds the perfect textural contrast.

Will it be perfect the first time?

Probably not.

Mine certainly wasn’t – I over-cooked the pasta, under-seasoned the filling, and somehow managed to burn the sage while under-browning the breadcrumbs.

But you know what?

It was still delicious, and more importantly, it taught me exactly what to do differently next time.

That’s the beautiful thing about cooking – every mistake is just tuition in the university of getting better at feeding yourself and the people you love.

And this particular dish is very forgiving of small imperfections.

Even if your rolls are a bit wonky or your sauce is slightly thin, you’ll still end up with something that tastes like autumn in a bowl and makes everyone at your table feel loved.

So go ahead, tackle this mushroom & chestnut rotolo recipe.

Embrace the messiness, enjoy the process, and don’t forget to save some room for seconds.