Castagnaccio

A while ago in an organic food store next to my house, i picked up a bag of chestnut flour, simply out of curiosity but not with a real plan yet. Since the flour is made out of 100% ground chestnuts, it seemed pretty Paleo to me! After posting a question online about perhaps what to do with it, i was immediately accused of trying to recreate modern baked goods, and so on. Right. It's sad to find out there are a lot of opinionated, Paleo high horses out there, but enough about that.
Finally, i found a recipe that is super easy to make, and requires only a few ingredients; Castagnaccio.

Castagnaccio is originally from Tuscany, Italy, and can be labeled somewhere in between a cake and a bread.
Foods containing chestnuts were mostly eaten by poor people, when there was no money to buy real flour, chestnuts would be ground into flour and used in various recipes.
Here is the recipe for the most traditional Castagnaccio, but you'll find some variation in the ingredients here and there (low-carbies, look away)


250 grams of chestnut flour
75 grams of raisins
50 grams of pine nuts (i didn't have them, so i used crushed almonds instead)
30-40 rosemary needles
1 tbsp olive oil
400-500 ml water




Slowly mix the water and the flour together, creating a smooth batter. It should fall of a sppon, but not be too liquid. Make sure you add water bit by bit, so you get the right consistency.


Add the oil, raisins & nuts and mix thoroughly. Pour the batter into a low baking dish, and sprinkle the rosemary needles on top. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 celcius for about 40 mins. The top of the cake should be cracked.


Eat on it's own, or with some ricotta cheese (if you are primal)