Castagnaccio

By blum099

laspezia9

Castagnaccio is a chestnut flour cake (castagna in Italian means chestnut) with raisins, pine nuts, walnuts and rosemary. The recipe does not use yeast, baking powder or sugar. According to food historians, the origin of this recipe goes back to the Ancient Romans, when a chestnut bread was made out of coarsely ground chestnuts and travelers' and workers' could pack the bread into their bags. Good chestnut flour is very sweet when you taste it raw (and this is why you do not need to add sugar to the castagnaccio). Taste your flour before using it. If you find it sour, this can be the result of two things: the flour is of poor quality or the flour is too old and has gone stale (chestnut flour doesn't keep well. Purists only make castagnaccio in November-December, as the flour is prepared in October/November when chestnuts are available. In both cases, you can add some sugar to the mix to reduce the bitterness, but the final result may be inferior. Castagnaccio is best served with a cup of espresso or sweet wine like vin santo.

Ingredients

• 250 g (1/2 pound) chestnut flour
• 2-3 cups water (500-700ml) - depending on the quality of the flour
• 1/3 cup (75g) raisins
• 1/4 cup (50g) pine nuts
• 5 whole walnuts (shelled and coarsely ground)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 20 rosemary leaves

Details

Adapted from jovinacooksitalian.com

Preparation

Step 1

Directions

Pass the flour through a sieve and put it in a mixing bowl.

Add water to the mix slowly, while stirring. You want the batter to be soft enough to fall from the spoon, but not too liquid. Normally 2 1/2 cups (600ml) is the perfect amount of water, but you may need more or less.

Add the olive oil, the pine nuts, the walnuts, the raisin and mix them together thoroughly.

Oil a 9 inch round cake pan Pour the batter in.

Sprinkle the rosemary leaves on top of the batter. Do not stir: you want them to be visible.

Bake the castagnaccio at 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 degrees Celsius) for 30-40 minutes.

Take the cake out of the oven and let it cool on a wire rack.

You can eat plain or with a tablespoon of ricotta cheese on top, which is how Italian families traditionally eat it.

Wrapped in plastic or foil, the cake will last 4-5 days, but it will dry out a bit.