Calzoncelli di Castagne · Calzoncelli Lucani con le Castagne
Basilicata · dolce · serves 10 · 150 min total · medium
The Christmas dolce of the Lucanian hills, where chestnuts kept villages alive through the winter. In Melfi and the Vulture valley they're filled with chocolate-spiked chestnut paste; on the Ionian side, with chickpeas and honey. The vincotto — fig or grape must boiled to syrup — was every farmhouse's October pantry job. Made all together on the kitchen table by the women of the family the week before Christmas.
Ingredients
- 500 g 00 flour
- 150 ml warm dry white wine
- 60 ml extra-virgin olive oil
- 40 g sugar
- 1 pinch pinch of salt
- 500 g cooked chestnuts (vacuum or peeled fresh)
- 120 g dark chocolate, grated
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
- 80 g sugar for filling
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 orange orange zest
- 20 ml dark rum
- 1 L oil for frying
- 200 ml vincotto or mosto cotto
Method
- Dough: combine flour with sugar and salt. Add warm wine and oil, knead 10 minutes to a smooth firm dough. Rest covered 30 minutes.
- Filling: mash the chestnuts to a smooth paste (a food processor is fine). Mix in grated chocolate, cocoa, sugar, cinnamon, orange zest and rum. The paste should hold its shape on a spoon.
- Roll the dough thin — 1.5 mm, almost transparent. Cut discs of 8 cm across.
- Place a teaspoon of chestnut filling on each disc. Fold over into a half-moon, press the air out, seal the edges by crimping with a fork. (Like little chocolate-stuffed ravioli.)
- Heat oil to 170°C. Fry the half-moons in batches until pale gold and bubbled, about 90 seconds. Lift onto paper.
- While still warm, dip each calzoncello fleetingly in warmed vincotto so it gets a dark sticky glaze on both sides.
- Pile on a serving plate. Eat the same day.