Socca is a simple chickpea flatbread that’s naturally gluten free and vegan. It’s easy, customisable and made from essentially 3 ingredients!
The pictures for this post has been updated 26/8/16, but this post and recipe remain the same.
What is Socca?
In Italy it’s called farinata ‘made in flour’ and in Tuscany it’s called cecina ‘made of chickpeas’. In France, more specifically in Nice, it’s a popular street food called, socca. I call it delicious.
How it’s made:
Altogether this recipe is quick and easy requiring a minimal amount of ingredients: Chickpea flour, water, oil, and whatever seasonings you want to throw in the mix.
To start simple add your ingredients to a large mixing bowl and whisk together until you have a smooth batter, a little thinner than a typical pancake batter. Once fully mixed and no lumps remain cover and set aside for about 30-ish minutes.
While the batter is resting take this time to heat up your oven and cooking dish. I make my socca in cast iron skillet, but you can use shallow oven proof container you like. Just make sure to grease up whatever container you are using and heat it up well before adding your batter.
Once the batter has rested and everything is heated, carefully pour your chickpea batter into your oven dish and then place in the oven to bake under a high heat for about 10-15 minutes. Turn the heat up to a broil if you’re interested in a crispier/top and edges and that’s it!
Personally, I love simple recipes. Since I try to make the majority of food we eat from scratch, I appreciate recipes that I can throw together in limited time without having to use difficult to source, pricey ingredients. Not to mention, Mike has so many trigger foods, gluten being only one of them. It’s just easier for us from both a mental and practical stand point to just make it all ourselves.
Sprinkle in a few herbs and customize this recipe to your own flavor profile or just keep it simple as can be. Socca works well as a pizza base, served along side soups, and is perfect for dipping and slathering in all the sauces to your hearts content.
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Simple Socca: A Chickpea Flatbread
Socca is a simple chickpea flatbread that's naturally gluten free and vegan. It's easy, customizable and made from essentially 3 ingredients!
Ingredients
- 1 cup | 92 grams chickpea flour (gram flour)
- 1 cup | 235 ml water
- 2 tablespoons | 30 ml extra virgin olive oil plus more for oiling the pan
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Whisk together the water, chickpea flour, oil, and salt in a bowl until all the clumps are gone.
- Cover and let the flour absorb in the water for at least 30 minutes to an hour. If you want, you can leave the mixture to sit for up to 24 hours.
- Place a 9-10 inch skillet, cake tin, or whatever shallow oven safe baking dish you can find in the oven and preheat to 450°F/230°C.
- After the oven is heated fully, drizzle 1-2 tablespoons more oil in the skillet and swirl around until the bottom and sides are coated.
- Quickly whisk your chickpea batter once more to make sure everything is properly combined, and then pour the batter into the skillet. Place in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, until the sides begin to crisp and the top turns slightly golden brown. You may need to babysit the socca depending on your oven. Mine has a lot of hot spots so I have to keep turning it even few minutes to prevent too much burning in any one area.
- For a crisper, more golden top you can turn the oven heat up to broiling and leave in the oven for another couple of minutes.
- Let cool for at least 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
Mari says
What a great, easy recipe! I specifically went out to buy chickpea flour since I had never used it before. This is very simple and tasty recipe and I can see that it would make a perfect bottom for pizza toppings. Also great to chop some herbs and add some garlic butter at the end of cooking. The cauliflower chickpea curry looks great and will try that.
Thanks for sharing Sarah
Sarah Nevins says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I can also attest that this is great with extra herbs and garlic butter on top – so many great ways to enjoy it! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know what you thought about the socca!
Letitia says
Hi! Where do you find your chickpea flour? And what brand do you use? I am unable to find it. Garbonzo bean flour is similar but I don’t thing they really taste the same?
Sarah says
Hi Letitia! I often buy the Bob’s Red Mill from Amazon https://www.bobsredmill.com/garbanzo-bean-flour.html
I could be wrong but my understanding is that garbanzo bean flour and chickpea flour are the same thing and are often listed as being the same on labels.
Jeff D says
Any other flour work like Cassava? If anyone has tried any other that is. 🙂
Sarah says
Hi Jeff – not too sure about other flours but I’ll leave this up and hopefully someone else might be able to chime in!
Cathy says
Hi how long will this bread keep?
Sarah says
Keep it in the fridge and it should last at least a week but probably longer
Jennifer says
This is so, so yummy! Mine turned out a bit fluffier than how it looks in the picture because I doubled the recipe and baked it in a 9×13 glass Pyrex . It has almost a baked egg texture mixed with cornbread. Will definitely make again! How do you recommend storing? Fridge or countertop?
Thanks for a great, simple recipe!
Sarah says
Yay! So glad you liked it – thanks for coming back to leave a comment/review letting me know how it went 🙂
As for storing, I’d recommend keeping it in the fridge and then reheating it/re-toasting it as you like