Saint Martin’s Day on 11 November is a critical milestone in the old rural calendar in many European countries: the grape harvest is over and the freshly crushed fruit starts turning into wine. In Italy, this is celebrated by cheering with vino novello, or new wine, over a good serving of roasted or boiled chestnuts. Their nutty flavour and creamy texture are just perfect to accompany a glass of young red. Castagnotti translate the addictive taste of chestnuts into a fragrant and crumbly cookie, deceptively simple to shape, and with a cunning coating of chocolate that turns them into an irresistibly pretty treat.
The chestnut flour produces a very forgiving dough: it needs to be kneaded for longer than conventional wheat flour to come together and become pliable, but the pastry can be re-rolled as often as needed without ever getting tough.
Makes 36
soft wheat 00 flour or plain flour 100g
chestnut flour 200g
dark soft brown sugar 100g
baking powder 1 tsp
salt ⅛ tsp
unsalted butter 130g, cold and diced
egg 50g (about 1 medium egg), at room temperature
dark chocolate chips 250g, or bar broken into small pieces (50-55% cocoa solids)
Add both flours, the sugar, baking powder and salt to the bowl of a food processor and stir with a spoon until fully combined. Add the butter and blitz until the mixture resembles sand. Add the egg and blitz again until the mixture resembles soft flakes. Transfer it to a clean and dry worktop and crush it with your hands to bind the flakes together, then pat it down with the palm of your hand. Using a straight-edge scraper, lift one side and fold it over. Repeat the patting and folding a few times until the dough feels smooth and pliable. Flatten to about 2cm thickness, wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
When ready to bake, place the shelf in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 160C fan/gas mark 4. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper or silicone mats. Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out to 8mm thickness on a lightly floured worktop. Cut circles in the dough with a 4cm pastry cutter, then arrange them on the lined baking sheets, spacing them 2-3cm apart. Offcuts can be reworked and re-rolled to make more cookies. Pinch the top of each biscuit to shape them as chestnuts, then bake one tray at a time for about 10 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the tray for a couple of minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Keep the baking paper for the next step.
Put the chocolate in a small bowl and microwave it for 1 minute, then stir well and keep microwaving it in 10-second bursts, stirring it well between subsequent bursts until completely melted. Set aside to cool for a few minutes. Holding one cookie by the bottom of the chestnut shape, dip it pointed-end first into the chocolate to coat about three-quarters of the cookie. Tilt it from side to side to give the coating a curved edge, then place it on the baking paper to set. Repeat with the rest. Castagnotti keep for up to a week in a biscuit tin.
From Giuseppe’s Easy Bakes by Giuseppe Dell’Anno (Quadrille, £24)
