Chef Graziella
Crespelle alla Fiorentina
Delicate Italian crepes wrapped around spinach and ricotta, blanketed with bechamel and baked until the top turns golden and the edges bubble. This is Florentine home cooking at its most elegant.
Culinary Explorer
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Necci Salati con Salsiccia
Created by
The ancient chestnut crepes of Tuscany's mountain villages, filled with crumbled sausage and served warm. A breakfast that sustained woodcutters and charcoal burners for centuries.
Breakfast & Brunch
Italian, Tuscan
Comfort Food
15 min
Active Time
25 min cook•40 min total
Yield4 servings (8 necci)
In the mountains of the Garfagnana and Lunigiana, chestnuts were not a luxury. They were survival. The Tuscans called the chestnut tree l'albero del pane, the bread tree, because its flour fed villages through winters when wheat was impossible to grow and too expensive to buy. Necci are what those mountain people made with that flour: simple crepes cooked between hot iron plates over the fire.
The batter is three ingredients. Chestnut flour, water, salt. Nothing else. The flour does all the work, lending its sweet, earthy flavor and distinctive brown color. When you make necci properly, you taste the forest itself, the damp autumn mornings when chestnuts fell from the trees and were gathered, dried over slow fires, and milled into flour.
The savory version filled with sausage is breakfast food, though it serves equally well as a simple supper. The sausage must be good Italian pork sausage, crumbled and browned until the fat renders and the edges crisp. Fennel seed in the sausage is traditional to this part of Tuscany. You do not need anything else. The sweetness of the chestnut and the savory pork fat create a balance that requires no embellishment.
Necci date to at least the medieval period in Tuscany's Apennine mountains, where chestnut forests covered the hillsides and the flour sustained communities too poor and too remote for wheat. The dish takes its name from the Latin 'necare,' to kill hunger. Traditional cooks pressed the batter between chestnut leaves in hinged iron plates called testi, giving each crepe the imprint of leaf veins.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
chestnut flour
Quantity
200 grams
cold water
Quantity
300 milliliters, plus more as needed
fine sea salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
Italian pork sausage
Quantity
350 grams
casings removed
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
1 tablespoon
fresh ricotta (optional)
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| chestnut flour | 200 grams |
| cold water | 300 milliliters, plus more as needed |
| fine sea salt | 1/2 teaspoon |
| Italian pork sausagecasings removed | 350 grams |
| extra virgin olive oil | 1 tablespoon |
| fresh ricotta (optional) | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Well-seasoned 10-inch cast iron skillet or nonstick pan
- •Whisk
- •Mixing bowl
- •Wooden spoon
Instructions
- 1
Make the batter
Sift the chestnut flour into a mixing bowl to remove any lumps. Add the salt. Pour in the cold water while whisking constantly. The batter should be thin and pourable, like heavy cream. If it seems too thick, add water a tablespoon at a time. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes. Chestnut flour absorbs liquid slowly, so the consistency may thicken as it sits.
Quality matters here more than anywhere. Fresh chestnut flour smells sweet and nutty. Stale flour tastes bitter and flat. Buy from Italian importers who store it properly, or find a source that mills it fresh each autumn. - 2
Cook the sausage
Remove the sausage from its casings and crumble the meat into a cold skillet. Set over medium heat. Cook, breaking the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until the fat renders and the edges turn golden brown and slightly crisp. This takes 10 to 12 minutes. The sausage should not steam in its own moisture; it should sizzle and brown. Transfer to a bowl and keep warm.
- 3
Cook the necci
Heat a well-seasoned cast iron skillet or nonstick pan over medium heat. Add a thin film of olive oil and wipe away the excess with a paper towel. The pan should be hot but not smoking. Pour about 3 tablespoons of batter into the center and quickly tilt the pan to spread it into a thin round, about 7 inches across. Cook until the edges lift from the pan and the surface looks dry, about 90 seconds. Flip and cook 30 seconds more.
Traditional testi are hinged iron plates that press the crepe between chestnut leaves. Unless you have inherited such a thing from a Tuscan grandmother, a well-seasoned cast iron pan works perfectly well. - 4
Fill and fold
While the neccio is still in the pan, spoon a generous line of crumbled sausage down the center. Fold the crepe in half like a taco, or roll it loosely. Transfer to a warm plate. Repeat with the remaining batter and sausage, stacking the finished necci and keeping them covered with a clean kitchen towel.
- 5
Serve immediately
Serve the necci warm. They cool quickly and lose their tender texture. If you wish, add a spoonful of fresh ricotta alongside or inside each one. The cool creaminess against the warm, earthy crepe is traditional in some villages. In others, the sausage alone is considered sufficient. Both are correct.
Chef Tips
- •Chestnut flour is highly perishable. Store it in the freezer after opening and bring to room temperature before using. Flour that has sat at room temperature for months will taste rancid.
- •The batter contains no egg and no fat. This is correct. Additions would interfere with the pure chestnut flavor and the distinctive texture, which should be tender and slightly chewy, not crisp.
- •If your sausage lacks fennel, add a pinch of fennel seed to the pan while the meat browns. The anise note is essential to this part of Tuscany.
- •In the Garfagnana, necci are sometimes served sweet, filled with fresh ricotta and drizzled with chestnut honey. Make a double batch of batter and offer both versions.
Advance Preparation
- •The batter can be made several hours ahead and refrigerated. Whisk again before using and adjust consistency with water if needed.
- •The sausage can be cooked ahead and gently rewarmed. Do not microwave it; rewarm in a dry pan over low heat.
- •Cooked necci do not hold well. Make them just before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 140g)
Calories
480 calories
Total Fat
29 g
Saturated Fat
9 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
18 g
Cholesterol
65 mg
Sodium
900 mg
Total Carbohydrates
40 g
Dietary Fiber
6 g
Sugars
8 g
Protein
15 g
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