Chestnut flour

[fortran]

I am new here, debating building an oven. I live way north of everyone here it seems, about 55 degrees north. Your articles about winter and cold are a little humorous. :-)

A while ago, I remember seeing Mario Batali on Food Network talking about pizza, and he said that the first pizza dough was made with chestnut flour. I've no idea if this was true, and it isn't a kind of dough that seems to be mentioned here. However, being someone good at cooking and willing to experiment (I'm an engineer/scientist), I thought I would give it a go.

Edmonton (where I lived at the time) was a pretty good sized city (just shy of 1 million at the time), but no place I looked had chestnut flour. However, I was able to find chestnut paste, which according to the ingredients was basically just chestnut flour and water. Since when you make dough, you add water to flour, I figured there was no problem with using paste.

I was able to make a pizza, I think it was a desert type. Probably a yogurt substitution for tomato sauce, fruit for toppings and chocolate for cheese. It was a while ago. I do remember verifying that chestnut flour does lead to increased gas production. I haven't repeated this, but from what I remember it wasn't bad in any way.

Has anyone else here made chestnut flour pizzas?

[brokencookie]

I have'nt made any yet but I have come across theses recipes

"La Pizza R'Castagn (Pizza made with chestnut flour)

Ingredienti per 8 persone"
400 gram di farina di castagne, 10 noci, 30 grams of pinoli, 1 arancia,
rosmarino, 3 cucchiai di olio, sale. Preparazione: prendete la farina e
setacciatela. Mettetela in un recipiente di coccio, con un pizzico di sale.
Tritate i gheriglii delle noci e i pinoli. Grattate la buccia dell'arancia e
unite alcune foglioline di rosmarino e, insieme ai tre cucchiaidi olio
d'oliva, unite tutto alla farina.
Mestate con mezzo litre d'acqua tenendo conto che l'impasto deve risultare
soffice. Versate in teglia ben unta, avendo cura che lo spesso del
castignaccio no superi il centimetro. Infornate a forno molto caldo. ///
Translation/////
Ingredients for 8 people. About a pound of chestnut flour, 10 walnuts, an
ounce of pine nuts, 1 orange, rosemary, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, salt.
Preparation: Take the flour and sift it. Put it in an earthenware vessel,
with a pinch of salt. Mince the walnut kernels with the pine nuts. Grate the
peel of the orange and mix with small rosemary leaves and, together with 3
tablespoons of olive oil mix all 3 with the flour.Mix with a pint of water
taking care that the resulting mixture is soft. Pour into a well oiled
baking pan . Be sure that the thickness of the chestnut dough does not exceed
a quarter of an inch. Bake in a hot oven.


CASTAGNACCIO (Chestnut Crust)
One of the most easiest and tastiest dishes from Italy - Castagnaccio

1 lb. chestnut flour
1 tbs. grated orange zest
4 tbs. sugar
4 tbs. raisins, soaked and squeezed
1 pinch salt
2 tbs. pine nuts
3 tbs. olive oil
2 tbs. walnuts, coarsely chopped
milk, as needed

Sift the chestnut flour; add the sugar and a pinch of salt. Add 2 pts. cold water in a thin stream, beating constantly with a whisk so as not to form lumps. Add 3 tbs. oil, orange peel, raisins, pine nuts and walnuts. Add warm milk little by little until you get a stiff consistency. Pour the batter into a greased pan large enough for the crust to be 1/2-in. thick. Dribble on some oil.

Pre-heat the oven to 400°F and bake for an hour. Serve warm or cold. It can also be served with whipped cream.


It looks like you can get chestnut flour at a Whole Foods or "health" food store. It is recommended as a wheat substitute for those who cannot eat wheat.

I'll bet you that Frances had tried something like this

Bruce

[fortran]

Thanks. Interesting recipes. That first one looks very fragrant.