The recipe for Castagnaccio is one of the oldest in the traditional cuisine of Tuscany; according to historical sources from the 1500s, its inventor was a man from Lucca named 'Pilade from Lucca'.
Considered a poor man's dish, at first it was particularly popular in the Apennine areas, where chestnuts were a staple food in the diet of peasant populations. Since the Second World War, however, thanks to the new-found economic well-being, this cake has been rediscovered and has spread like wildfire in Umbria, Piedmont, Liguria, Lazio, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto and Lombardy.
This is a typical autumn cake and is made by baking a mixture of chestnut flour, extra virgin olive oil, water, pine nuts, sultanas and rosemary. Of course, there are countless additional ingredients and different variations depending on local culinary traditions.
But now let's see the "Castagnaccio" recipe in detail.
FEATURES:
- 432 calories per serving
- LACTOSE-FREE
- Preparation. 10 minutes
- Cooking time 35 minutes
- Serves 8
- Cost: medium
INGREDIENTS
- 650 g water
- 500 g chestnut flour
- 100 g pine nuts
- 100 g walnut kernels
- 80 g of sultanas
- 40 g extra virgin olive oil
- 5 g fine salt
- 1 sprig of rosemary
Preparation:
- To prepare the Tuscan-style chestnut cake, first wash the ra the sultanas in fresh running water and then soak them for 10 minutes in a bowl of cold water to rehydrate them;
- With a knife, coarsely chop the walnut kernels and strip the rosemary;
- Sift the chestnut flour into a large bowl and add the 650 g of water a little at a time, stirring with a hand whisk;
- When you have obtained a smooth and homogeneous mixture, add the chopped walnuts and whole pine nuts;
- Keep a small amount aside to sprinkle over the surface of the chestnut cake before putting it in the oven;
- After 10 minutes, squeeze and dry the sultanas, then add them to the mixture, leaving a small amount to spare;
- Mix the mixture well and add the salt;
- Oil a shallow round cake tin 32 cm in diameter and pour in the mixture, levelling it off with the aid of a spatula;
- Sprinkle the surface of the chestnut cake with the pine nuts, walnuts and sultanas you have set aside, distributing them evenly;
