Castagnaccio

Reading this post from Jeremy at Frost Street, I felt the urge to do some cupboard “cleaning”. As usual I threw off way less than I could have, but found a long forgotten bag of chestnut flour I had brought back from Italy last winter. Chestnuts, like acorns, are one food item that used to be associated with poverty. They were used as a source of carbohydrates from those who could not buy flour or who lived in remote valleys, especially in the winter months. In some parts of Italy the importance of chestnut woods as food source went beyond mere subsistence: it was such that it influenced the cuisine of these areas. Although a few examples exist throughout Italy, where this is most evident is certainly the northern mountainous part of Tuscany bordering Liguria. Here bread, polenta and sweets were, and in part still are, made using chestnut flour. The most famous of these dishes is certainly castagnaccio a chestnut flour cake enriched by nuts and, in its richer versions, a few other ingredients. I hadn't had castagniaccio for ages, so the recipe for my, let's call it, cupboard-archaeology treasure was decided.

Castagnaccio, although eaten as a sweet, is probably not exactly what would fall in most people's definition of one. It hardly contains any sugar except that from the naturally sweet chestnuts. Add nuts, rosemary and olive oil to that and you can imagine how the taste might not be everyone's cup of tea. The classic, basic castagnaccio, tastes slightly sweet with the slight bitter note of rosemary. It is simply made by mixing together a slightly runny batter out of chestnut flour, some oil and water (plus one or two pinches of salt). This is then poured in a rather wide cake or pie form, so the batter isn't higher than 2 cm. On top come pine nuts, rosemary and a little olive oil, and then the cake goes in the oven, pre-heated at 180C (350F), for about 30-40 minutes. The top is then slightly crunchy while the rest of the cake remains rather moist. I actually prefer to spread my batter in a larger form so that it stays thinner, more like 1 cm, for more top crust. There's no oven rise in this cake, the baking is only needed to cook the chestnut batter.

Topping can be enhanced quite a bit. Ingredients that can enrich castagnaccio are raisins, walnuts, a little fennel seeds and orange peel. All these are not uncommon but probably represent a social and not only culinary step up from the humble origins of the dish. I decided for once to try a rich version of castagnaccio, which uses all of the above ingredients, apart fennel, has a bit of sugar and substitutes milk for the water in the batter. The result is pleasant, the orange peel adding a nice contrast and the amount of topping was abundant but not overwhelming. The only thing I'll probably change next time is the use of the milk in the batter. When you use water the castagnaccio turns a beautiful dark brown colour and has a crunchier top crust. Using only milk the crunch is almost gone, so I'll probably try half milk and half water next time.

Castagnaccio ricco (rich castagnaccio)
Serves 4 to 6

250 g chestnut flour
about 400 ml whole milk, lukewarm (or half milk half water)
2 pinches of salt
50 g raisins, plumped up for about 30 minutes with some warm water
50 g pine nuts
a scarce handful of walnuts, chopped
a scant tablespoon of sugar
the needles of a small FRESH rosemary sprig
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
the peel of about 1/4 of an orange, julienned

Pre-heat your oven to 180C. Sieve the flour, and add enough water to form a slightly thin batter, more or less like crepe batter, taking care to avoid lumps. Add the salt and sugar and mix. Pour in an oiled (with olive oil) 25-30 cm wide cake or pie form, depending on how thin you want your castagniaccio. Sprinkle raisins, pine nuts, walnuts and orange peel on top. Slide in the warm oven and bake for about 35 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool and cut into wedges.

Eat accompanied by a glass of Vin Santo and maybe a little fresh ricotta on the side.

Comments

[Cathy]

Alberto - you have brought back some fond memories! We went to Italy last October and visited Migliana for the chestnut festival. It was an amazing drive up to the top of the mountain where the little village sits and the festival itself was fascinating. It was very small - there was a table with a few crafts for sale, but mostly it was all about the chestnuts. They were roasting them in a barrel and everyone was standing around eating chestnuts. The ground was strewn with chestnut hulls. They were serving a few other food items besides the chestnuts and we tried them all. We didn't know the names of any of them, but I now know one of them was Castagnaccio. The one I had was plain - dark, chewy, slightly sweet as you said, and tasted of rosemary. I'll have to find some chestnut flour and give this a go! I like the idea of adding orange rind and raisins. Thanks for the recipe!

[Theresa]

I've been looking for Northern Italian castagne recipes and this one fits the bill so well - simple and rustic. All the better that Vin Santo should be a good accompaniment for it - have been trying ways to finish that bottle in the cupboard. Many thanks Alberto!

[Alberto]

Cathy, you're welcome. Chestnut festivals are an Autumn tradition I miss. When I was still living in Italy it was an occasion I tried never to miss.

Theresa, enjoy the vin santo but... trying to finish the bottle? You should invite me around ;-). I don't know how well castagniaccio works with fresh castagne. If that's what you have at hand, I'd rather cook them in water (and a bay leaf, as tradition wants), peel them, make a puree with milk, a bit of butter and some vin santo and use this as a stuffing for a crostata (one of those Italian style tarts). Or make my favourite: Mont balnc. Not very Italian but... addictive :-)

[Dave]

Hey Alberto,
A friend of mine made this for us several times and I, over time, developed a love of it. I can't wait to make my own. Thanks for the recipe.

[Alberto]

Dave, you're welcome. Maybe try both one made with water and one with milk to taste the difference. And if you have any left-overs, sprinkle them with some sweet wine, in the oven 5 minutes and eat.. mmhhh :-)