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Tuscan Castagnaccio Recipe – The GialloZafferano Recipe

The chestnut, or baldino or pattinais a typical dessert prepared with chestnut flour and enriched with raisins, pine nuts, walnuts and rosemary. It is difficult to establish the exact origin of castagnaccio. We made the Tuscan chestnut, but this recipe is also widespread in Veneto, Piedmont, Lombardy… all regions where the chestnut it is a very common ingredient in the kitchen. What all the variations have in common is the peasant origin of the castagnaccio: water, chestnut flour and rosemary. Already in the 16th century, castagnaccio was well known and appreciated, so much so that an Augustinian father mentioned it in one of his writings. It seems that the creator of the castagnaccio was the Tuscan Pilade da Lucca who is mentioned in the “Commentary of the most notable and monstrous things in Italy and other places” written by Ortensio Orlando and published in Venice in 1553. However, it was starting from 19th century that the Tuscans exported castagnaccio to the rest of Italy and in this period it was enriched with raisins, pine nuts and rosemary. Every family has its own chestnut recipe, we offer you ours!
You can also prepare delicious chestnut cakes or delicious chestnut gnocchi with chestnut flour!
And if you are looking for other Tuscan recipes, we recommend you also try our peposo, similar to a stew!
Tuscan chestnut cake (Castagnaccio)