When autumn comes to Tuscany, you will be able to enjoy Castagnaccio, a torta rustica made with chestnut flour and olive oil that has ancient origins. In the 1500s it was well known in Tuscany as cucina povera, a dish prepared by poor, peasant farmers and shepherds. Chestnuts were plentiful in the hills of the Apennines and easy to harvest, not only for its nutritious flesh but also for chestnut flour. Chestnuts (castagne) are rich in protein, calcium and vitamin A.

This torta can also be called baldino, ghirighio, toppone or pattona, depending on where you are in Italy. Local variations may include other ingredients, such as rosemary, orange peel and fennel seeds. There is even one romantic legend that says when its perfumed with rosemary, Castagnaccio is a powerful love potion--making and serving it the object of your affections will make them fall in love with you, and ask for your hand in marriage. Perhaps this is more than just a dish served during Natale, but also appropriate for Valentine's Day!

In its earliest conception, it was an easy way to make a portable food (like an energy bar) that stored well for long periods,  helping sustain poor contadini during long, harsh winters. According to Ortensio Landi (1553) in his “Commentario delle più notabili et mostruose cose d’Italia e di altri luoghi“ ("Commentary on the most notable and monstrous things of Italy and of other places"), he traced its origins to a man called Pilade from Lucca.

By the nineteenth century however, the addition of pignoli and dried fruits morphed this spiced cake into a dessert deserving of the Christmas season and its popularity spread to Liguria, Piedmont and Emilia Romagna and even on the nearby French island of Corsica. Today you will find castagnaccio just about everywhere in Italy during Natale festivities. Keeping with Tuscan tastes, typically, no sugar is added because of the inherent sweetness in the chestnuts themselves and the addition of dried fruit and raisins. Castagnaccio is often served with ricotta, honey or sweet wines such as Vin Santo.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces chestnut flour
• 3 tablespoons golden raisins (sultana).
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts (pignoli)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts (better: use chopped, roasted chestnuts)
• zest of one orange
• 2 - 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil for dough
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt.
• 2 tablespoons sugar (leave this out if you want a more historic recipe)
• 2  cups cold water (less or more, depending on humidity)
• 1 - 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary (or use the leaves of 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary)
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil for oiling the pan and drizzling on top of the finished torta.

Optional: You can soak the raisins in rum, Amaretto or orange liquor instead of water for a more adult version.

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
2. Soak the raisins for 15 minutes, then squeeze out the excess water. Set aside.
3. Sift the chestnut flour into the bowl of a stand mixer, add the salt (and sugar, if you are using any), then mixing on low speed, gradually add water until you have a smooth textured batter. The batter should form ribbons when it falls from a spoon.
4. As it continues mixing at low speed, add the olive oil, the raisins, pignoli, orange zest and chopped walnuts/chestnuts to the batter.
5. You may use either a 9" round pan or a small flat, rimmed baking sheet (as you would brownies) to bake your castagnaccio. In either case, the pans should be well oiled with EVO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil).
6. Pour and flatten the dough mixture into you pan and flatten with a spatula. (This is a rich torta, so you don't want it too thick.) 
7. Sprinkle with rosemary leaves, then drizzle with EVO.
8. Bake in the oven on the center rack for 30 minutes or until a nice, medium-dark brown color. You'll know it's getting done when the top starts to show overall cracks.
   
9. Set aside on a cooling rack before serving. 

Serve with a glass of Vin Santo, and a dollop of fresh ricotta on the side, and drizzle both with a Tuscan honey of your choice.

Buon appetito!

--Jerry Finzi

For further reading:
Chestnuts: The Italian Love Affair with Castagne
Foto del Giorno: Chestnut Vendor
Harvest Festivals in Italy: From Grapes to Wine, and More

Ancient Sardinians had a saying: Chie hat pane, mai no morit (who has bread, will never die). This is true for most of the world. Pane Carasau is one of the ancient breads they were talking about. You can imagine the ancients making this bread because of its long storage capabilities and portability. 

It is a a very thin flat bread--some might call a cracker--that was traditionally made for shepherds by the housewives to carry with them for long months on high pastures with their flocks. They can be eaten with sausage and cheese, or dipped in milk to re-hydrate for colazione and drizzled with honey or jam. Pane Frattau is a soup made with shards of Pane Carasau, meat, eggs, cheese and tomato. Modern Sardinian chefs are also using pane carasau in their recipes, for instance, carasau lasagna.

The tedious method by which is is made creates a thin, crispy bread that will last literally for months, even if it happens to crack into shards along their travels. There are some who refer to this flatbread as carte della musica (music sheets) because of its thinness.
 
The dough itself is fairly simple: durum wheat, yeast, water and salt. It's rolled into extremely thin rounds and baked in a wood oven until the bread puffs up like a balloon, then quickly (with dexterity, not to get steam-burned) cut into two halves, making it even thinner. They are then toasted again in the oven and dried completely. Nowadays, in Italy you might even come across packaged Pane Carasau in supermarkets.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 1/2 Cups Semolina Flour (Durham)
• 1 teaspoon, Active Dry Yeast
• 1 1/2 Cups Warm Water (Approximate, depending on humidity)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

The best results are achieved in a wood pizza oven, but you can use a baking steel (this holds heat better than a baking stone). Place the steel on the bottom rack (with all others removed) in an oven, the preheat to its maximum temperature (typically 550 F). If you want to use a baking stone, the cook time will be slightly shorter. You might also benefit by having a thin, metal pizza peel to remove your  pane carasau from the oven.
Directions

1. Place the baking steel into your oven and preheat to maximum temperature.
2. In a 2 cup measuring cup or small bowl, dissolve the yeast, sugar and all the water,  then proof for about 15 minutes.
3. In a stand mixer, at first combine the all-purpose flour with salt.
4. Mixing on low speed, add the yeast mixture to the flour.
5. Mixing at a low speed, add 1/4 cup at a time of the bread flour until the dough climbs the dough hook, then knead briefly into a smooth ball on a lightly floured surface.
6. Place into an oiled bowl and cover with a damp, cotton kitchen towel until doubled.
7. Knead the dough for a second time on a lightly flowered surface for 2-3 minutes, them place back into the bowl for one more hour.
8. Place the dough ball onto a lightly floured surface and cut into four equal pieces.
9. Roll each into a long cylinder about 2'3" thick, then cutting each into small segments, each one about the side of a small dinner roll.
   
10. With cupped hands, roll each segment into a ball shape.
    
11. Using a straight rolling pin, roll out each round as thin as possible, about the size of a dinner plate.
    
12. Since each one is baked separately, it's best to get help from other members of your family:  One person is responsible for rolling out the flat rounds; The baker will be responsible for placing them into the oven onto the steel (or stone), keeping a watch on them as they bake, turning them over when puffed up, and removing them; A third person is needed to cut them in half with a very sharp paring knife and stack them before toasting in the oven a second time (which can be done after all have been cut and stacked.)
    
13. The time it takes to bake your pane carasau depends on your oven. Obviously, in a 900 degree+ wood pizza oven, they will cook in less than a minute. In a 550 F oven with a baking steel, this might take 2-3 minutes. Using a baking stone, it might take a bit longer. This is the type of baking you need to keep a constant eye on, flipping over the ballooning breads briefly before removing them for cutting. I recommend studying how this is done in the video below. 
    
14. 
    
15. Remove, brush lightly with olive oil, sprinkle with fresh chopped rosemary and salt and return to the oven for a few minutes.
    
16. Let sit until cool enough to handle, then break into large pieces.
17. Serve warm.

I've never been a big fan of cannoli, but I have to admit, THIS Cannoli tower takes the cake! Great idea for a wedding instead of a typical wedding cake.

--Jerry Finzi