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Easy Vegan Socca Recipe – Chickpea Flatbread. Savory Gluten free Vegan Chickpea flour flatbread. 1 Bowl 5 Ingredients. Vegan Grain-free Soyfree Nutfree Recipe. Jump to Recipe
What is Socca?
Socca is a type of thin unleavened pancake, flatbread or crepe made with chickpea flour. It has other names in various regions of France and Italy (farinata, Panisse) and can be made thin or thick with various flavor additions. It is naturally gluten-free and grain-free and can easily be used as flatbread or pizza base. Similar preparations are also found in other cuisines with variations in methods of cooking and forms. Chickpea flour is an amazingly versatile and worldy ingredient!
Socca Bread needs just 2 main ingredients, chickpea flour and water. I add salt, rosemary, pepper flakes for flavor and cook it on a skillet or bake. I prefer the skillet version. It is easier, and quicker and you can adjust the thickness and crispyness as you prefer.
Slice up the socca and serve with dips or just olive oil. Or top with pesto or chimichurri and veggies and bake for a pesto pizza. Chickpea flour is generally available in grocery stores.
Ingredients for Socca Bread
Ingredients for Socca Bread- Chickpea flour or garbanzo bean flour is the main ingredient in socca. Chickpea flour is now easily available in grocery stores, or you can buy it online on amazon
- Salt, herbs and pepper flakes add flavor. You can change up the herbs and spices for variation.
- a tsp of oil is added to the batter for crispier result. You can omit it.
- water is used to make the batter. You might need more or less depending on the flour and your preferred consistency. Chickpea flour can sometimes be too packed or too fluffy and you might need to adjust the water accordingly. Make a Thick batter for thicker pancakes and thin batter for crispy crepe like result.
- Besan and chickpea flour are not the same. Indian Besan, sometimes labeled as chickpea flour, is the flour of brown chickpeas or chana dal(split brown chickpeas), or sometimes a mix of split chickpeas and split peas. It is usually much finer ground and needs much less water than chickpea flour. They also taste slightly different. Sometimes, you have to take these differences into account, when substituting one for the other in a recipe. You can easily use besan in this recipe, just add less water, 3/4 cup water and add more only if the batter is thick.
How to Make Socca on a skillet and Step pictures
Measure out the chickpea flour. Chickpea flour can sometimes be too packed or too fluffy. Depending on the measurement, you will need all of the 1 cup of water or a bit less to make the batter. You can adjust the batter later by adding more water or more chickpea flour.
Let the batter sit for atleast half an hour. This helps the flour absorb moisture evenly for a smoother batter and an even bread result.
Pour the batter on a well heated cast iron or other skillet and cook until the top is dry. Then use a spatula to loosen the flatbread. If it is still sticking, then the batter has not fully cooked yet, let the bread cook longer and then try again. Flip and cook for another 2 to 3 mins.
Skillets to use for Chickpea flour flatbread, pancake, crepe or Socca
- Chickpea flour batter is a flour batter and will stick to most pans and skillets.
- Seasoned cast iron when heated well is the best option for cooking chickpea flour based batter or other flour based batter for pancake or crepe like result.
- Good non stick skillets with thick bottom also work well. If you use the non-stick pan for anything else that is not of the same format, like stir fry, frying, or other cooking that uses veggies, has stirring etc, then the non-stick coating of the pan gets affected. Even if it feels non-stick while cooking, it wont be a sufficient enough non-stick for the chickpea flour batter. For best results, Keep a dedicated non stick skillet for batter based pancake and crepe cooking., i.e, that pan will always be used for pancakes and crepes and nothing else. If you get a sticky mess, you know you need a new pan 🙂
How to Store Socca Bread
Store covered with a towel or in a container on the counter for the day. You can also refrigerate the cooked Socca bread for upto 3-4 days. Reheat on the skillet to serve.
Freshly made socca has the best flavor and texture. So I prefer to store the batter instead of the made socca,(refrigerate the batter for upto 2 days) and make the socca as needed fresh.
More Chickpea flour recipes , all glutenfree
- Gluten free Naan
- Indian Chickpea Flour pancakes – Chilla
- Chickpea Flour Frittata
- Cauliflower flatbread
- Chickpea flour “egg” scramble
- Chickpea Flour Tofu – Soyfree Tofu
- Chickpea flour fluffy omelet
Socca Recipe (Chickpea Flatbread)
Equipment
- Cast iron skillet
Ingredients
- 1 cup chickpea flour, (garbanzo bean flour)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper flakes, or to taste
- 1/2 tsp rosemary
- 1 tsp oil, , plus more for cooking.(I use olive oil in the batter and a neutral oil for cooking)
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl until well mixed.
- Add the oil and 3/4 cup water and mix(use a whisk for faster mixing), add more water to make a thick smooth batter. (Depending on measuring and how packed the flour was, you will need 1 tbsp less than a cup or whole 1 cup. Make a Thick batter for thicker pancakes and thin batter for crispy crepe like result.**). Cover and let it rest for at least half an hour to overnight. If keeping overnight, cover the bowl and refrigerate.
- Stove top: Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat. When hot add a few drops of oil and spread well. Add a ladle-full of the batter. Cook for 4 to 6 minutes then use a spatula to loosen the flatbread. If it is still sticking, let the bread cook longer and then try again. Flip and cook for another 2 to 3 mins. Cooking time will depend on the pan, stove and thickness of the batter.
- Bake: Preheat the oven to 450 deg F(230 C). Place the cast iron skillet in the oven for 20 mins. Remove the skillet carefully, drizzle oil and spread the batter on it. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes depending on the batter thickness. You can add some toppings now and bake for another 3-5 mins, Or flip the socca carefully and continue to bake for another 3 to 5 mins depending on preferred crispyness.
- Store on the counter covered lightly with a towel before serving. You can serve the socca as is or sliced as a flatbread with dips, or with soups.Refrigerate cooked socca for upto 3 days. Refrigerate the batter for upto 2 days and make socca as needed.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This batter is a game-changer in my life. It’s so versatile – sweet or savory. Crispy in my favorite and I too find it’s easy to control on the stove and crips off under the broiler. I love the scrambled version as well. I usually make the batter and let it ferment overnight if not longer. Deliciousness! Thank you.
Yay! Glad you like it!
Thank you…always had trouble using chickpea flour as recipes usually mean besan flour which has different properties so good to have this clarified here.
glad you found my post
Great Flatbread for pizza or with soup.
Thanks!
I’m new to the Mediterranean diet and looking for more ways to get protien into my diet instead of using animal products. So had to try this socca. I had everything but a cast iron pan so used my small steel pan. Made them like crepes, man they turned out so good. Since I made the batter a bit thinner I got 4.5 crepes out of it. Tasted the first one that came out of the pan, so friggin delicious I ate the whole thing while cooking the others. Thank you so much for this recipe, it’ll make it easier to get in that much needed protien without resorting to meat.
lol
Made a thinner batter and used them like tortillas. Used besan and all was fine.
excellent! thank you for your great feedback