Castagnaccio

· Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

· Sift the chestnut flour into a large bowl. Add the sugar and salt and stir.

· Remove the raisins from the soaking water, reserving the water. Stir the raisins into the flour.

· Combine the milk, 3 tablespoons of olive oil and the raisin water in a separate bowl.

· Whisk the liquid into the flour. The batter should be the consistency of whipping cream or slightly thinner.

· Add the lemon or orange zest and half of the pine nuts and stir to incorporate.

· Grease a round, 9-inch baking pan with the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil.

· Pour the batter into the greased pan. Oil will spill over onto the cake batter. Drizzle a bit more olive oil over the top of the cake. Sprinkle the top with the remaining pine nuts and the rosemary leaves.

· Bake for 45 minutes. The top of the cake will begin to crack.

· Serve warm or at room temperature with a dollop of ricotta and a drizzle of honey.

This article appears in Dec 1-31, 2010.