In summertime, I crave simple, nourishing foods. Fresh, and vibrant and blessedly easy to prepare. And while in wintertime, I favor hardy stews and roasts, in summer I want for something decidedly lighter.
Lately, I've leaned heavily on socca, a thin flatbread traditionally served in the south of France (it goes by the name farinata in Italy). Like the best of foods, socca is wonderfully simple to prepare and contains only a handful of uncomplicated, nourishing ingredients: chickpea flour, olive oil, salt and water.
Its light, but nutty flavor, pairs well with the robust flavors of summer: ripe tomatoes, fresh herbs, roasted garlic and even more olive oil. Sometimes I'll serve it as a light lunch, like today, and other times I serve it as an appetizer before I bringing out the main dish and ample sidedishes for dinner party guests.
About Chickpeas
Chickpeas are as central to socca, as good flour is to wholesome artisan breads. Chickpeas are rich in chickpeas, folate, and thiamin as well as minerals like phosphorus, iron, zinc, and manganese. Of course, the minerals in chickpeas like the minerals in other pulses and in grains and nuts, are better absorbed when the chickpeas are prepared properly through sprouting, soaking or sour leavening. These traditional processes render the minerals found in pulses, grains, nuts and seeds more bioavailable.
Why Soaking and Sprouting Chickpeas Matters
Chickpeas, like all nuts and seeds, grains and pulses, contain food phytate. Food phytate can bind minerals, and prevent their full absorption. And, chickpeas, like other pulses, can be difficult to digest. The process of soaking, sprouting or souring can help to not only make the minerals they do contain more bioavailable, but that process also renders the bean easier to digest.
Sprouting, coupled with soaking or souring, can be particularly helpful in mitigating the effects of food phytate while ensuring the beans are easy to digest which is why I tend to work with sprouted chickpea flour (though this recipe also works with regular chickpea flour as well). More importantly, soaking the chickpea flour overnight, whether it is sprouted or not, also gives the final flatbread a wonderful, faint, tartness that complements the naturally earthy, nutty flavor of the chickpeas.
Sprouted Socca
Ingredients
- 1 cup sprouted chickpea flour
- 1 medium lemon juiced
- 1 ¼ cups water
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil plus additional for greasing the pan
- ½ teaspoon finely ground real salt
Instructions
- Dump the chickpea flour into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Stir in the lemon juice and water. Cover the bowl, and allow it to rest at room temperature at least 12 and up to 24 hours.
- Set a 10-inch cast iron skillet in the oven, and heat the broiler.
- Whisk in olive oil and salt, until it forms a thin, smooth batter.
- When the skillet is nice and hot, swirl a glug of olive oil in the bottom of the skillet until it's completely coated, then pour in half the batter, swirling it if necessary so that it coats the bottom of the skillet. Broil the socca until its edges turn crisp, and it begins to blister - about 7 minutes.
- Gently remove the socca from the pan, continue with the remaining half of the batter. Cut into squares and serve with more olive oil, fresh herbs, tomatoes, anchovies, olives or whatever you happen to like.
Jo Fortuna says
I had only regular chickpea flour but followed the recipe faithfully otherwise using a cast iron skillet heated smoking hot. The 'batter' was very runny. It stuck badly. Pulled it out at about 3 minutes as the top was blistered and dark brown. It had stuck badly and the middle was gummy - almost runny. Put it back in another 2-3 minutes; it was black on the edges. It was delicious folded with the gummy side in. How can I improve what I did? Why was the batter so runny? Are the proportions correct - equal amounts of flour and water plus the lemon juice and oil?
Steve Whitner says
I have made socca a couple of times and I think that the amount of liquid in the suggested recipe is too much. I think total for water and lemon should be about the same--or a little less--than the amount of flour. I have also used my oven rather than the broiler for the first stage. I preheated the oven and cast iron pan to 450 deg, then put enough flax seed oil in the pan to coat it. Then poured the batter in, and cooked it for about 10 minutes--then turned the broiler on at the end for a couple of minutes. Worked wonderfully. I haven't tried lemon, but will next time. I also put a tsp of italian herbs in, and about a quarter cup of chopped green onions (just the green part), and think its great. Afterward, I put a little more flax seed oil in the pan and put it back in the oven while it cools down to do a little re-seasoning. Good luck!
john says
Hi, you typed chickpeas have lots of chickpeas near the top, before listing their nutrients.
Thanks.
Patricia arrance says
Avocado oil is a mono fat high heat point not as heavy as olive going to give it a try.