While flipping through my most recent edition of National Geographic Traveler I came across this 1-page article on Socca (chickpea flour crepes). Seeing as the picture indicated that this Socca (which I had never heard of before) was a food, I decided to read on. The ingredient list was simple: chickpea flour, water, olive oil, salt. The intent seemed ideal: to be in rough shards, eaten with your fingers. How could I go wrong? So I tried it.
The batter is fairly thin- much like crepe. There are several options for cooking these- under a broiler (in a fry pan), on a very hot baking stone, stove top. I opted to make my first three on a baking stone, preheated in a 500 degree oven, and the last in a cast iron pan so that I could see the difference.
I served these as a gluten-free flatbread type of side to lemon-pepper chicken and green salads topped with crispy-fried mushrooms, roasted red peppers and cheddar cheese.
Ingredients
- 2 cups chickpea flour
- 2 cups water
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt (or more if you really want to taste it)
Directions
- Whisk together the chickpea flour, water, olive oil, garlic, thyme, and salt. Let stand for at least 30 minutes and up to several hours
- Preheat your oven to 500 degrees with a baking stone in it
- Give the batter a quick whisk and ladle a quarter of it into the skillet
- Switch the oven to Broil and let it go for 5-10 minutes, until the top is browned and the socca is cooked in the middle (yet still tender) and crispy around the edges. Use a spatula to remove it from the stone
- Repeat to make the additional flatbreads