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Tag Archives: chestnuts in Italy

Lasagne Bastarde Posted by on Jan 27, 2017

Lasagne Bastarde (Bastard Lasagne). This not very poetic name refers to a type of home made pasta typical of northern Tuscany, particularly the Lunigiana and Garfagnana area, where sweet chestnuts were once the staple food from late autumn to the end of spring. This recipe came about as a way of saving precious wheat flour…

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The Tree of Life – Part 1 Posted by on Jan 21, 2015

Castagno = Sweet Chestnut Tree Castagna (plural castagne)  =  Sweet Chestnut/s Castagneto = Chestnut Plantation Up until just a few decades ago, the humble castagna was a vital part of the Italian contadino’s (peasant’s) diet. Il castagno, often referred to in times past as l’albero del pane (the bread tree) proliferated around small towns and…

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