Socca Recipe
Socca is a popular street food in the cuisines of France (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region), Italy (called farinata) and Monaco. It is a naturally gluten-free recipe as it is made entirely from chickpea flour. Besides, it is quite easy to make. The number of ingredients is very few, since it does not contain yeast (and yes, there is no baking powder or baking soda as well, the recipe is not wrong), it is not expected to leaven, it is not necessary to shape it. It is whipped for a minute and placed in the oven after five minutes.
It has only one negative aspect. Although it is a very thin pastry, it takes longer than expected to bake. The cooking time will definitely vary depending on your oven, but it will probably exceed half an hour. However, don't leave it itself and don't forget to check it often. Once it starts to brown, it won't take long for it to progress on its way to burning.
Traditionally, socca is cooked in large cast iron trays in a stone oven over a wood fire, so the dominant odor is burnt/smoke smell. The trace of chickpea flour is evident only in its taste. Since there is no smokey smell when cooked in a home oven, the smell of chickpeas is felt very lightly, but it is never as much as a gluten-free chickpea bread recipe. To be honest, I thought that the difference between the wood fire and the oven would have a great effect on the taste, but the taste of the homemade socca is very close to the socca you can eat in the streets of Nice. It just looks a little different. It is due to the crusting of socca cooked in a home-style oven. Socca cooked in wood fire at a very high temperature has an imperceptibly thin crust as it does not have time to form a distinct crust.
When I ate socca for the first time, I thought it would be a wonderful bread for Turkish breakfast, like cloud bread. When I first tried it at home, I made it for the breakfast table and I realized that I was not wrong in this thought. Indeed, it creates a wonderful flavor combination with Turkish breakfast dishes such as feta cheese, olives, tomatoes and cucumbers. In my next attempts, I also tried socca with soup and main courses. It wasn't bad with soup either, but its compatibility with breakfast is definitely something else.
In the original recipe, no spices are used on it or in it, but I love the fragrance of very little rosemary or thyme sprinkled on it when it's hot. I recommend you try it.
Enjoy the recipe...
Socca Recipe with Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup of chickpea flour (not pre cooked),
- 1+1/4 cup of water at room temperature,
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt,
- 4-5 tablespoons of olive oil.
Preparation
- Preheat the oven at 210 degrees with a 24 cm cast iron pan in it,
- Whisk flour, water, salt and a tablespoon of olive oil in a bowl and let it rest for five minutes,
- Pour a few tablespoons of olive oil into the pan,
- Pour the mixture into the pan and flatten it,
- Place it on the top shelf of the oven and cook it until it gets a crust,
- Take the oven and apply olive oil on it with a brush,
- Return to the oven and cook until golden brown.
- Sprinkle rosemary or thyme on top when removed.
Enjoy your meal...