Autumn makes me hungry.
As the weather cools, I become obsessed (read more obsessed) with food… and flies. There are flies everywhere at the moment.
Every time I open the door to my house, I swear 40 of them get in. And while Italy has many fantastic things, fly screens don’t seem to be one of them.
But that’s beside the point. Back to the food.
One of my favourite autumn ingredients is the chestnut. My family is Southern Italian and when we were kids, we’d go out to the side of the road in Australia and collect chestnuts with my grandparents.
Back then, they were free and abundant because most Aussies had no idea they were edible. My grandma would roasted them over her open fire in a special pan called a spaèla.
Since moving to the Maremma, I’ve fallen in love with chestnuts all over again. Monte Amiata is famous for these sweet nuts, which hold I.G.P status – a protected designation of origin that’s only given to the best Italian products.
Chestnuts are often called peasant’s food. In the harshest winters of the 19th and 20th century, Monte Amiata’s poorest would grind the chestnuts into a coarse flour to make bread and cakes. The leftover skins would fuel their fires and if they had a few nuts to spare, they would make chestnut beer.
These days, chestnut bread, like all Italian peasant food, is a true delicacy. Every year, Monte Amiata celebrates this culinary tradition with festivals throughout October and November.
I love chestnut bread. What it lacks in fluffiness and lightness, it makes up in its incredibly rich flavour.
My husband’s auntie hails from Arcidosso and she shared her recipe for chestnut bread or pane con la farina di castagne
Like all bread recipes, the yeast bit can be tricky and there is some kneading involved, but it’s worth the effort. Chestnut bread is delicious with prosciutto and other cold cuts, soup, cheese or just butter and jam! It also lasts for a week without drying out.
Pane con la farina di castagna
Ingredients
- 670g plain flour
- 140g chestnut flour*
- 50g dried chestnuts, finely chopped
- 50g fresh yeast
- 420ml water
- 1 tbsp salt
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Method
Dissolve the yeast in a litre of warm water (about 25°C), add a tablespoon of flour and let it stand for 20 minutes.
In a large bowl or on a work surface, mix the two flours, salt and chopped dried chestnuts together, add the yeast mixture and begin kneading. Add more warm water as needed. You want a smooth and well mixed dough that doesn’t stick to your fingers. It took me about 10 minutes and a couple extra tablespoons of water to get the right consistency.
Put the dough in a floured bowl, cover with a damp towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 2 hours. A great place to put it is in the oven with the light on!
When the dough has doubled in size, knock out the air, divide into two and place in a loaf tin or small cake tin. Cover with a cloth and leave to rise for another 30 minutes.
Bake at 180°C for 40 minutes. Turn out the breads and leave to cool on a wire rack.
* you can buy chestnut flour from most supermarkets or gourmet food stores.