Castagnaccio: the typical Tuscan autumn delicacy - Here is our traditional recipe!

Castagnaccio is one of the most typical Tuscan delicacy, so named because of its main ingredient: chestnuts (castagne). Also known as "Pattona" or "Baldino" it was exported by the Tuscans in the northern Italian market from the nineteenth century. To make the dish tastier, ingredients such as raisins, pine nuts, rosemary needles and sugar are added, instead of the honey used in the original dough. Legend has it that the rosemary leaves of castagnaccio have the power of a love filter and the young man who eats the cake received from the hands of a girl falls madly in love with her.

Here is our recipe for this traditional Tuscan specialty:

Take ½ kg of excellent dried chestnut flour and dilute it with a litre of water in a bowl and whisk to avoid lumps. Once reduced to a cream, add a little salt and a tablespoon of olive oil, stirring constantly.
Then add an abundant punch of pine nuts and some raisins after being rehydrated in warm water. Grease the pan with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and put the mixture in it. Garnish the surface with other raisins, pine nuts, rosemary leaves and a drizzle of olive oil.
Bake at 160 ° C for about an hour, until the rind is tanned and not burned.

OUR TIP
If you want to reheat it, add some white wine in the empty spaces and let it evaporate keeping the pan covered so that the steam softens the castagnaccio.