“San Martino, San Martino, castagne e vino.” Oh, yes: chestnuts and wine for the November 11th Feast of St. Martin.-But not just any chestnuts and wine. We have roasted chestnuts with new red wine.
And for San Martino, we always join our rural friend, Peppa, for chestnuts roasted on her wood-burning stove paired with this year’s “new” wine.
But that chesnut goodness always follows Peppa’s culinary goodness.This year, as Pino slit the chestnuts for roasting….
….Peppa heated up a savory soup for us:
….and her garden’s last baby tomatoes added a flavorfu and colorfull touch to thisbuonissima zuppa.
For our bruschetta, Peppa toasted bread near the roasting chestnuts on her wood stove.
She rubbed each toasted slice with garlic….
…and then she sprinkled salt on each slice (as Umbria bread is saltless (due to the mid-16th c. Papal salt tax):
Next? A drizzle of her just-milled olive oil:
Although we were already satiated, more was to follow: batter-fried potatoes and suppli (rice balls) which Peppa had heated in the wood-stove oven, telling us that after all, she couldn’t waste the left-over rice from yesterday’s risotto.
By …..and about this time, the chestnuts were roasted and Peppa whisked them off the wood stove, wrapped in a dish towel and crushing them in her lap:
She placed the chestnuts before Pino, opened the towel…
…..and poured a generous dose of the vino nuovo on the chestnuts.
Peppa beamed with satisfaction…
…and then wrapped them up again, crushing the wine-doused chestnuts:
Time then to crack open those roasted chestnuts:
We immerse some of those roasted chestnuts to a glass of new wine, a final treat:
Mille grazie, Peppa, for castagne e vino – and not only!
.
Read about the San Martino celebrations in an Umbrian village named after San Martino.
Read this note on San Martino depicted in an Assisi fresco – and about Peppa lore linked to San Martino
Read about use of our woodstove in our rural years
Read about a past San Martino day with Peppa.
