Chestnut bread - Pane di castagne - Kruh od kestena

Walking in the forest is so therapeutic for my soul, it removes the melancholy of these autumn days. It's a joy to breathe fresh and moist air. The scent of musk and mushrooms is so sweet and pleasant and the rustle of leafs and branches under my foots is the only sound I can hear around. The slowly movemente of trees is just a reaction to air fluctuation, but it's so soft and subtle.

I love my "new" forest, I always need to have the forest close to me. In this place I find the peace of mind. It's amazing how similar my Italian and my Croatian forests are. Same trees, same humus, same scent, same fruits....chestnuts, rosehips and plenty of mushrums under bronzed leafs.

Another thing I find so therapeutic is keading the bread, touching the warm dough and smelling  the warm perfume of the fresh baked bread. And while I was walking in the forest harvesting chestnuts, I was thinking about this bread, rustic bread made of these sweet fruits. And I couldn't wait long before making it. And it was really good and tasty. I almost didn't have time for taking pictures of it, because autumn afternoons (especially weekends!) are often dark and grey. But the real excuse is, that we broake it and eat it still smoking hot!

CHESTNUT BREAD

150 gr of mashed chestnuts

200 gr of superfine strong flour

1 tablespoon of chestnut honey

10 gr of fresh yeast

a pinch of salt

150ml of lukewarm water

1 tablespoon of extravirgin olive oil

Dissolve yeast and honey in some lukewarm water. Allow to rest for ten minuts to activate the yeast.

Put the flour and chestnut mush in a bowl, add the yeast and start to knead by hand adding lukewarm water little by little. At the end add the tablespoon of oil a pinch of salt and continue kneading until the dough get smooth and homogeneous.

Let the dough rest to raise until doubled in same bowl covered with plastic wrap.

Cover the baking pan with baking paper and spread the paper with some olive oil.

Put the dough onto slightly floured working surface. Give the shape you like most to your dough, transfer it to the baking tray and bake in preaheated oven at 180°C for first 10 minutes, then turn down the temperature to 150°C and continue baking until golden brown (around 30 minutes in total). Don't overbake your bread.

Let it cool down before you slice it.

PANE DI CASTAGNE

150 gr di purea di castagne

200 gr di farina manitoba

1 cucchiaino di miele di castagne

10 gr di lievito di birra fresco

un pizzico di sale

150 ml di acqua tiepida

1 cucchiaio di olio extravergine di oliva

Sciogliere il lievito e il miele nella poca acqua tiepida. Lasciare riposare per una decina di minuti per attivare la lievitazione.

In una ciotola unire la farina alla purea di castagne, aggiungere il lievito e cominciare ad impastare a mano versando poco alla volta l'acqua nell'impasto. Infine aggiungere un cucchiaio di olio ed il sale e continuare ad impastare fino ad ottenere l'impasto liscio e omogeneo.

Far lievitare l'impasto nella stessa ciotola coprendola con la pellicola trasparente.

L'impasto dovrebbe raddoppiare di volume.

Rivestire la teglia con la carta forno e ungere leggermente la carta coll'olio di oliva.

Infarinare la spianatoia e versarci sopra l'impasto. Dare la forma desiderata al vostro pane, trasferirlo nella teglia e far cuocere il pane nel forno caldo a 180°C fino a che diventerà dorato in superficie (circa 30 minuti). Trascorsi i primi 10 minuti abbassare la temperatura del forno a 150°C per non fare bruciare la superficie del pane.

Far raffreddare il pane prima di tagliarlo.

KRUH OD KESTENA

150 gr kesten pirea

200 gr super mekog brašna "manitoba"

1 žlićica meda od kestena

10 gr svježeg kvasca

prstohvat soli

150 ml mlake vode

1 žlica ne rafiniranog maslinovog ulja

Otopiti kvasac i med u malo mlake vode. Ostaviti desetak minuta da se kvasac digne. U zdjelu nasuti brašno i kesten pire, dodati kvasac i zamijesiti tijesto rukom dodavajući vodu malo po malo. Na kraju dodati ulje i sol i dalje mijesiti da se dobije glatko tijesto.

Ostaviti da se tijesto diže u zdjeli pokrivenoj prozirnom folijom. Tijesto se mora udvostručiti.

Dno pleha za pečenje obložiti papirom za pečenje premazanim s malo maslinovog ulja.

Pobrašniti radnu površinu, te na njoj oblikovati tijesto po želji, prebaciti ga na pleh i peći u zagrijanoj pećnici na 180°C dok ne porumeni (oko 30 minuta). Nakon prvih 10 minuta smanjiti temperaturu pećnice na 150°C da površina kruha ne izgori.

Ohladiti kruh prije nego ga narežete.