Visiting Tuscany in autumn means immersing yourself in a fascinating palette of colors. Campaigns that are tinged with red, yellow and orange, unique sunsets, this is undoubtedly the best time to visit this magical land.
Autumn is also synonymous with harvests and among the typical products of this period, there are chestnuts. From this ones comes the castagnaccio, a chestnut flour cake enriched with pine nuts, raisins, walnuts and rosemary.
But how is castagnaccio made? First of all, choose the flour well!
20 Regions of Italy cares about tradition, recipes are a precious commodity, so we have decided to propose the original recipe from the official website of the destination Tuscany.
For an excellent castagnaccio, the quality of the raw material is essential. Chestnut flour, in particular, must be fresh in order to best express its natural sweetness. Gluten-free, castagnaccio is also suitable for celiacs.
Watching this video and following the instruction step by step, we are sure that you will be proud of your castagnaccio!
PREPARATION : 20 min
LEVEL : EASY
Are you ready ? Following the ingredients
- 50 g of raisins
- 1 spoon of vinsanto (Type of sweet or dry, aromatic wine, which is prepared with dried white grapes)
- 250 g of chestnut flour
- 400 ml of water
- 1 pinch of salt
- 20 g of pine nuts
- 50 g of chopped walnuts
- grated zest of ½ an orange
- 1 sprig of rosemary
- extra virgin olive oil
Preparation:
Step by step recipe
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and dip the raisins in warm water with a spoonful of vinsanto.
2. Add the chestnut flour and salt to a bowl. Pour in the water a little at a time, stirring constantly to avoid lumps.
3. Add the raisins, half of the pine nuts and half of the walnuts, then mix again.
4. Grease a round pan with plenty of extra virgin olive oil and pour the batter.
5. Sprinkle with the remaining pine nuts and walnuts, then add the rosemary.
6. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and bake for about 25-30 minutes until the “cake” is dry on the top and covered with thin cracks. Castagnaccio can be enjoyed hot or cold.
That’s it, what a Tuscan pleasure!
You can keep the castagnaccio at room temperature for about 3 days. The more the days pass, as at that point the cake is fully impregnated with the different flavors.
CURIOSITY
A romantic legend tells that the rosemary leaves used to perfume the chestnut cake were a powerful elixir of love: the young man who had eaten the cake offered him by a girl, would have immediately fallen in love with her and would have asked for her in marriage.