It is not autumn if there is no Castagnaccio, this cake made with chestnut flour, pine nuts, raisins and rosemary is characteristic of the Apennine areas of Tuscany, Liguria, Emilia and Piedmont.
Dish of the country tradition, the main ingredient, the chestnut, was widely used because it's inexpensive and very nutritious.
The first recipes on chestnut date back to 1500 and allow you to deduce that both Tuscan origins, would seem to be invented by a certain Pilade from Lucca, although the recipe begins to spread only since the late ' 800.
In the different areas of the region the sweet took away off names and different forms: in Lunigiana is a very thin cake called "patona"; at Livorno the chestnut is high almost three centimeters and is very dense; in aretino must not be higher than half a centimeter and finally, in Florence, where a thin cake with multiple names castagnaccio or migliaccio.
Fun fact: apparently the Rosemary leaves used in the recipe were a love potion and for this reason unrequited lovers, they used to offer to the loved one a slice of this cake.
The recipe to prepare it provides:
300 gr. sweet chestnut flour;
50 gr. or more pine nuts;
80 gr. raisins,
400 ml. of water,
6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil,
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, soak the raisins for fifteen minutes, knead the flour with water, a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of oil to obtain a homogeneous mixture without lumps. Add the pine nuts, the raisins squeezed and mix. Prepare a large aluminum pan from the base boards, grease it with oil and pour in the liquid, a little oil and bake.
Bake for about 30 minutes, until the surface is formed a crispy crust.
Photo Credits [piccolericette.net]