The Cyans of Lunigiana

She protagonists, along with the mondine or roasted chestnuts, of autumn events in Lunigiana, are the cian, also known as necci in the rest of Tuscany. They are small crepes made from a dough made from chestnut flour and water, prepared with the typical iron with two plates to be heated over the fire or on a stove. They can be enjoyed stuffed with ricotta cheese, creamy cheeses or, when hot, with very fatty cold cuts, but they are also good with sweet spreads…

We offer the recipe if you want to prepare them at home. The appropriate iron can be purchased in many Lunigiana hardware stores, but we’ll give you a tip: before pouring in the dough grease the inside of the two pans with a potato cut in half and lightly soaked in oil!

 

Would you like to try making it? Here is a version of the recipe

Ingredients for four people:

  • 400 g of chestnut flour PDO
  • 3/4 liter of lukewarm water
  • 3 tablespoons of oil
  • 200 g ricotta or stracchino cheese
    salt

 

Proceedings

In a bowl, mix chestnut flour with water and salt; this will make a fairly liquid batter.

Take a cast-iron testo, the kind made with scissors, heat it, grease it with a little oil and place a spoonful of the batter in the center; close it, keep it on the heat for 2-3 minutes. This will result in crépes-like sheets.

Since you don’t have a text, you can achieve the same result with an iron skillet: heat it well, grease it with a little oil and pour in a spoonful of batter, making it spread all over the bottom. Keep it on the flame for 2-3 minutes.

Stuff immediately with ricotta or stracchino cheese and serve very hot.