Italian castagnaccio pie

When we visited our friend Maria Meier in Comunità Brezzano in Tuscany, Italy this last September, she gave us some chestnut flour to take back home to The Netherlands.

Ancient chestnut trees are abundant in Tuscany and the grinded flour of chestnuts is being used for salty bread, cookies, and pies.

👉Since the flour does not contain gluten, it is great for people who cannot eat cookies or bread made of regular flour. I found a recipe for Italian castagnaccio pie, which is quite simple to make and surprisingly tasteful. (Remember: no sugar, no butter, no eggs, no wheat flour!) By the way, you have to preheat the oven to 395° F (200° C).

What you need:

• 
  9 oz (250 g) chestnut flour
• 1.5 cup (350) water
• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 sprig rosemary
• ¼ (30 g) pine nuts
• ¼ (30 g) walnuts
• 3 tbsp (30 g) raisins
• 1 tsp table salt
• honey (if you have a sweet tooth)

How to prepare:

Soak the raisins in lukewarm water (or sweet wine), then soak the rosemary leaves in another bowl filled with water and crush the walnuts into pieces.

Pour the chestnut flour into a bowl and add the water a little at a time, stirring with a spatula until consistent, then add the raisins (+ lukewarm water), 1 tsp of table salt, and 2 tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil.

Bake the pine nuts and crushed walnuts shortly in a flat bottom pan. Grease a 9 -inch baking tin with 1 tbsp of olive oil or line with parchment paper and pour the chestnut mixture into the baking tin and garnish with pine nuts, walnuts, and (optional) a sprig rosemary. Use a spoon to press the nuts halfway into the mixture.

Baking time:

Bake the Castagnaccio in about 35-40 minutes, depending on your oven, until the surface becomes perfectly dried and starts to crack.

ENJOY!!