October is par excellence the month of chestnuts and so we suggest you a really loved Ligurian recipe: castagnaccio.

It is a typical Ligurian street food which is sold, like farinata, in the so called “sciamadde”, that is to say typical delicatessen.

The recipe of castagnaccio is an old farming one consisting of a few simple ingredients and you can find it also in Tuscany. The difference between the Ligurian and the Tuscan recipe is in just one ingredient: in Liguria we use fennel seeds, while in Tuscany they use rosemary.

We love both versions (you know, we are greedy!!), but we obviously give you the Ligurian recipe, the one our grannies make…

To prepare castagnaccio, as to prepare farinata, you should use a copper tray: if you come to Liguria, we recommend you to buy a little one, you will not regret it!

A further suggestion!

If some batter exceeds, you can create another amazing recipe which is similar to panigacci.

Warm a non-stick hotplate until it is very hot. Pour a little bit of batter in the hotplate and when it starts making bubbles, turn it and cook on the other side. Make the same until you finish the batter and serve these pancakes with pesto and crescenza cheese or with a selection of cold cuts. That is a very simple, cheap, but made with love dinner you can share with your friends to warm a cold and rainy autumn day!

Ingredients:

• 400 g chestnut flour
• water
• 50 g pine nuts
• 100 g raisins
• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
• olive oil
• salt

Preparation:

Soak raisins in warm water for almost 15 minutes.

Sieve the chestnut flour in a bowl, add salt and, mixing with a whisk, pour sufficient water to obtain a very soft batter. To control the right density, take a spoon of batter and let it fall in the rest in the bowl: if it creates a little crater, the batter is ready.

Oil a low border tray and pour the batter. Drop fennel seeds, pine nuts and drained and dried raisins, add some oil on the top and bake it 200° C until some little cracks appear on the top. Take the castagnaccio out of the oven and taste its delicious chestnut flavour!

Castagnaccio is the ideal snack when you organize an autumnal excursion in the wood.