Chestnuts are usually acquainted with roasted nuts you have in the cold autumn or winter months. They are great candied, in purees, and even in pasta. I like them baked in bread, too. Here I made a 60-40 mix of wheat and chestnut flour, which is also gluten free. It’s richness offers less fats and oils than other nuts.

Chesnuts were the staple of the Romans before corn came from the Americas and was used like polenta. During WW I and WW II, it became necessary to use chesnuts as a substitute for flour in Italy and France, especially the mountainous Appenines of Italy and in France’s Ardeche region.

On the chesnut bread above, the hydration I used was about 70 percent, with just a bit of honey to my levain, giving it a nice flavor after the bake. The bread is particularily good with cheese or dried sausage as well.