CHESTNUT PIE: A TRADITIONAL EASTER DESSERT ON OUR PROVINCE’S TABLES

It is traditional on Easter day, in the Asti region, to cook the chestnut pie as dessert.

It might seem odd to someone: chestnuts are a typical Autumn food, but there is an explenation for this choice.

In the past, chestnuts were extremely important for farmers economy: this nut used to be dried and stored for all winter. The last ones were consumed during Easter. It was during that period that this beautiful tradition began: it marked the end of Lent.

We serve this dish with our Avié Moscato Passito.

Here are the ingredients for 10 people:

½ Liter of whole milk

½ Kilo of dried chestnuts

4 whole eggs

6 spoons of sugar

4/5 spoons of unsweetened cocoa powder

4 shots of Marsala

150 grams of finely crumbled amaretti

Lemon zest

5/6 teaspoons of caramelized sugar for the bottom of your mould

Preparation

Cook the Chestnuts in plenty of water with a pinch of salt for at least 2 hours, then blend them with some cold milk, to make a smooth batter.

Preheat the oven at 170°C.

In a bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar, add the cocoa powder, the amaretti crumbs, the lemon zest, the milk, the Marsala, the chestnut batter and, in the end, the beaten egg whites.

Caramelize the sugar and put it at the bottom an on the sides of your baking tray, where you will pour the batter.

Put the tray in the oven over a cup of water and let it cook for fourty minutes.

Check if the pie is fully cooked by piercing it with a toothpick: it has to look dry once out of the pie. At this point, you can put it out the oven.

Let the pie cool down, then put it in the fridge.

Glide a knife around the mould of the pie, then put it upside-down over a plate.

Enjoy your dessert!