Italian recipes: chestnut crepes

Coming into autumn it’s time for chestnuts in Italy, but more on the tradition later.
The chestnut was an important resource for alpine regions prior to the economic boom, with the wood, leaves, and fruit essential during cold months.
These days not many chesnuts dishes remain and most of those that do are in the form of cakes or sweets.

In Garfagnana one dish, called Necci exists, which is a kind of crepe made with chestnut flour.
These light cakes are made from a mix of water, sugar, salt and chestnut flour, that are then cooked between two hot plates.

This was the staple diet for workmen and wood cutters, but also for families who would often eat it with ricotta cheese.