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Socca: chickpea flour flatbread

North Mediterranean flatbread made with a batter of chickpea flour, water and salt, fried like a pancake or baked in the oven. Stuff or top with cheese, salad, tomatoes, meat, hummus etc.

Course Side Dish, Bread
Cuisine French, Italian, Mediterranean, Vegetarian
Keyword easy, economical
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Resting time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings 4
Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

  • 150 g chickpea flour (also called gram, besan or garbanzo flour)
  • 0.75 tsp salt see Recipe Notes for additional flavour ideas
  • 250-400 ml water (amount depends on whether you're making flatbreads or baking the socca) see instructions
  • light olive oil (or a mixture of regular olive oil and a bland oil like sunflower) for frying

Instructions

  1. Sieve the flour and salt into a large bowl.

  2. IMPORTANT: adding the water

     For socca flatbreads, you'll need only 250ml water

     For baked socca, you'll need 400ml of water

    Make a well in the centre of the bowl and pour in a little of the water.

  3. Using a whisk, gradually draw some of the flour into the water and mix to make a smooth paste.

  4. Gradually add more of the water, drawing in more of the flour as you go until all are combined into a thin batter.

    Put in the fridge for 1 hour.

For Socca Flatbreads

  1. Put a medium sized frying pan over moderately high heat (e.g. on a hob that goes up to 6, heat at 4).

    Brush oil over the heated pan then pour off any excess.

    Stir the batter, then pour in a thin layer (approx. 50 - 60 ml) so that the base of the pan is just covered.

  2. Cook until the top is set and the underneath is browned (1-3 minutes). Turn over and cook the other side (1-2 minutes). If they brown too quickly, temporarily turn down the heat for 30 seconds or so then back up again.

    Note that the first socca may take longer than subsequent ones.

    Remove to a plate and make more socca in the same way: stirring the batter each time and re-oiling the pan.

    Depending on the size of your pan and how thinly you poured the batter, you should get 6 - 8 socca.

For Baked Socca

  1. While the batter is resting, preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 6.

    Put 3 tbsp of oil in a baking pan, tin or tray and put it in the oven to preheat: a larger surface area will give you thinner, crispier socca.

  2. Stir the batter, then pour it into the hot oil.

    Bake in the oven until set and browned to your liking: can take anything from 10-30 minutes depending on the size of your baking tray and how soft or crispy you want the socca.

  3. Take the socca from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes before cutting into portions and removing from the tin.

Recipe Notes

Variations

Add chopped herbs, chillies, spices, cheese etc. to the batter.

For baked socca, you can also sprinkle flavourings over the top of the batter once it's in the baking tray: chopped rosemary is traditional, but cheese, tomatoes, vegetables salami etc. are also good.

Varying the amount of water used in the batter and baking it in different size tins and trays will give a crisper or creamier socca - experiment to see which you like best.