Socca Socca Socca

This is a delicious quick bread that is made from chickpea flour so it's gluten free and really tasty. It's crispy, toasty and has a smokey, roasted flavor, it's that sort of snack. I really like it with a ton of pepper but it was also excellent with the rosemary and onion. I saw this a while ago in the NYTimes and then Mark Bittman mentioned it on his blog and David Lebovitz wrote about it a year ago. So I broke down and tried it. I say broke down because I'm trying to eat fewer carbs, ha, impossible. This is one of those simple recipes that is easy to get right time after time and it's really tasty. I made this multiple times and the best recipe mash-up is below.

Socca

1 cup chickpea flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon, at least, ground black pepper
4 to 6 tablespoons olive oil
½ large onion, thinly sliced, optional
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, optional.
1. Heat oven to 500 degrees. Put a well-seasoned large cast-iron skillet in the top half of the oven for 20 minutes before using. Sift chickpea flour into a bowl; add salt and pepper; then slowly add 1 cup lukewarm water, whisking to eliminate lumps. Stir in 2 tablespoons olive oil. If using onion and rosemary, stir them into batter. Cover, and let sit while the oven heats, or as long as overnight. Batter should be about the consistency of heavy cream. Add water if it isn't.

2. Pour 2 tablespoons oil into heated pan, and swirl to cover pan evenly. Put back in the over for 5 minutes then pour in batter in a thin layer, and bake 5 minutes, or until pancake is firm and edges set. Then turn the broiler on and cook for another 3-4 minutes. You can let it brown in spots. Remove from oven, sprinkle with fresh ground pepper, cut it into wedges, and serve hot.