Savoury Chickpea Pancake
The Formula 1 Grand Prix moved to Monaco this week and for the F1 cook, I decided to cook Socca, a Chickpea Pancake.
Socca is quite prevalent in this region of the Mediterranean, and you may found it called different names such as Farinata in Italy. It is traditionally cooked on a wood-fired oven on a round copper plate.
It is a simple recipe, with very few ingredients. The majority of the recipes I looked at recommended equal parts of flour and water, with a little added salt.
Preparation and Cook
I made my pancake mixture around 3 hours before I wanted to cook. Most recommendations I saw said to leave the mixture about 30 minutes before cooking with some saying leave overnight.
I decided to cook this on the OONI Pro, and used a mixture of charcoal and wood, getting the oven to 350-400°C, before placing a Steel Skillet in the OONI to warm up. Taking the skillet out after 10 minutes, I added the Olive Oil giving it a good swirl around, before adding the pancake mix and placing back in the OONI.
I had decided to cook for 10 minutes and give it a turn after 5 minutes, but when I checked it, the pancake had already cooked and was a little burnt, but fortunately still edible.
The Verdict
This is a really simple dish to make and can be ‘pimped’ up by adding your own preferred spices and flavours. I really liked the texture, and we ended up serving this with Houmous and some Slow-Cooked Tomatoes, both of which went really well with it.
Socca
Ingredients
- 1 cup Chickepea Flour
- 1 cup Luke Warm Water
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- ¼ tsp Cumin
- ¼ tsp Garlic Powder
- ¼ tsp Za'atar
- 1 tbsp Rosemary
Instructions
- Add the Chickpea Flour to a bowl and gradually add the water, slowly mixing the ingredients as you go. Keep mixing until you have a smooth batter.
- Add the Cumin, Garlic Powder and Za'atar and mix well, then place in the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes.
- Light the OONI (or oven) and remove your batter from the fridge. When the OONI has warmed up place your skillet in the oven to warm up.
- Once the skillet has heated up, pour the Olive Oil into the skillet and pop it back in the oven for a couple of minutes to heat the oil up.
- Next, add the pancake mixture to the skillet and sprinkle the Rosemary over the top.
- Place back into the oven and cook for 5 minutes. I would rotate the pan after a couple of minutes to try to get an even cook. Most recipes I read did call for a 10 minute cook, so you may need to do this a little longer.
- Remove from the oven and serve either plain or with some of your favourite dips and toppings.
