Socca Pizza with Pesto and Mushrooms. This Chickpea Flour Pizza Crust is gluten-free, grain-free! Vegan Socca Pizza with veggies and chimichurri or pesto. GF soyfree Recipe. Easily made nut-free. Jump to Recipe
Socca, a type of thin unleavened pancake, flatbread made with chickpea flour, is naturally gluten-free and grain-free and can easily be used as a pizza base. The Socca Bread needs just 2 main ingredients, chickpea flour and water. Just mix, and cook a bit on the skillet or bake. Then add your favorite toppings and bake again.
I top it with pesto or chimichurri and veggies. You can also add some vegan cheese if you like. Add other toppings such as microgreens before serving. Easy, protein filled and delicious!
Ingredients for Socca Pizza
- Socca Pizza crust uses Chickpea flour or garbanzo bean flour as the main ingredient. 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.
- Water is used to make the batter. Adjust consistency to preference
- Vegan Pesto or Chimichurri sauce make a great herbed sauce for the pizza.
- Sliced Mushrooms, peppers, onion, zucchini or other quick cooking veggies make for a great topping as the pizza is baked for a shorter time.
- pepper flakes, herbs, vegan cheese, micro sprouts or baby greens make a great topping on the baked pizza.
What is the difference between Besan and Chickpea flour?
Besan and chickpea flour are not the same. Indian Besan, is the flour of brown chickpeas or chana dal (split brown chickpeas), or sometimes a mix of split chickpeas and split peas. It is a flour of some type chickpeas, so sometimes it is labeled as chickpea flour. Besan is usually much finer ground and needs much less water than chickpea flour.
Chickpea flour is the flour of white chickpeas and usually will need more water to make same consistency batter. Socca uses Chickpea flour.
They 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 Pizza
Mix the ingredients for the socca crust in a bowl. 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 evenly thick 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, Then spread the chimichurri or pesto.
Toss the mushrooms with a tsp of olive oil and herbs of choice. Then spread mushrooms and veggies. Add shredded vegan cheese if you like.
Bake for another 6 to 7 mins. Remove from the oven, slice with a pizza cutter, garnish with pepper flakes or micro greens and serve.
Skillets to use for Chickpea flour pizza crust, Socca Pizza,Chickpea batter based pancakes/crepes
- Chickpea flour batter is a flour batter and will stick to most pans and skillets, it sticks even more than regular flour batter.
- 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.
More Gluten-free Pizza Crusts from the blog
- Pan Pizza Crust. Thick Soft and airy! GF
- Yeast free Pizza Crust. GF
- Lentil Rice Crust. GF
- Chickpea Naan Bread. GF
- Cauliflower Crust. GF
- Potato Crust GF
- Mung Bean Crust. GF
Socca Pizza with Pesto and Mushrooms
Makes 2 medium size pizzas or 3 small.
Ingredients
Socca Pizza Crust:
- 1 cup (120 g) chickpea flour garbanzo bean flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper flakes or to taste
- 1/2 tsp rosemary
- 1 cup (236.59 ml) water
Pizza toppings:
- 1 Recipe chimichurri sauce
- Or 1 Recipe Vegan Pesto (use chimichurri for nutfree)
- 3 oz (85.05 g) sliced mushrooms
- 1 tsp olive oil
- Other veggies such as sliced bell pepper sun dried tomato, sliced jalapeno, zucchini or olives
Instructions
- Socca Pizza Crust: Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl until well mixed.
- Add 3/4 cup water and mix (use a whisk for faster mixing), Add more water to make a thick smooth batter, lump free batter that is just a tad bit thinner than pancake batter. Cover and let it rest for at least half an hour to overnight. If keeping overnight, cover the bowl and refrigerate.
- Make Socca Crust on 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.
- Or Bake the Socca: 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 10 minutes depending on the batter thickness.
- Spread the chimichurri or pesto on the socca. Mix the sliced mushrooms with 1 tsp olive oil and 1/2 tsp herbs of choice such as oregano or thyme. Then spread them on the socca. Add the veggies. Add shredded vegan cheese if you like.
- Bake the pizza at 450 F (230 C) for another 6 to 8 mins. Remove from the oven. (I prefer to cook the socca on the skillet, then bake it with the toppings)
- To cook the Pizza on Stove top: Cover the skillet with a lid and cook for another 3 to 5 mins.
- Add fresh herbs, micro greens greens or micro sprouts, pepper flakes, slice and serve.Store refrigerated for about 3 days. Reheat in the oven.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Isha
Hi its a good recipe but im allergic to chickpea(of every kind) flour , so any alternative for it….
Richa
Do you need gluten-free alternate or wheat flour will work?
Isha
Wheatflour will do
Richa
there are many different wheat based crusts onthe blog, use those instead. Wheat flour behaves differently so a direct sub doesnt work as easily.
veganricha.com/?s=pizza
Leaf
Hi,
It seems like a wonderful recipe and I cannot wait to try (though being French, I am lucky enough to be able to eat socca in the South quite regularly but your recipe has a twist and I like it!).
On another subject: would you be so kind as to tell me where you found your skillet, please ?
Thank you so much.
Richa
its a 12 inch cast iron skillet. I picked it up from a local store.You can find them easily online as well (on amazon)
Leaf
Thanks a lot for your answer! 🙂
Noa
This was so delicious! Thank you Richa. I hope made it with shiitakes, sun dried tomatoes & olives
Richa
awesome!
Emily
Made these with your pesto and topped with sun dried tomatoes and some grilled chikin style seitan. So good!
Richa
thanks!