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La Socca

La Socca is a traditional French recipe (from Nice) for a classic chickpea flour fritter that's oven baked and served hot garmished with black pepper and olive oil. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic French version of: La Socca.

prep time

cook time

10 minutes

Total Time:

30 minutes

Serves:

8–10

Rating:

Tags : Bean RecipesFrench Recipes

This is a traditional Niçoise recipe (from Nice in France), but the same dish can be found as far away as Tuscany in Italy where it's known under the name of 'Cecina' (indeed, the dish is originally Ancient Roman in origin and the Romans called it cecina). Typically eaten as a snack or an antipasto with a glass of white wine, in Pisa it is also eaten in a sandwich of bread made from pizza dough, known as 'Fritella con Cecina'. Around Livorno it is also known as '5 e 5' as, after the Second World War, it was an inexpensive meal, with the bread costing 5 cents, and the cecina costing another 5 cents.

Ingredients:

400g gram (chickpea) flour
800ml water
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp olive oil
freshly-ground black pepper and extra-virgin olive oil to garnish

Method:

Sift the gram flour into a bowl then whisk in the water, salt and oil beating briskly and evenly to avoid forming any lumps. Do not skimp on the oil and salt, as these will help the finished product stay moist.

Pass the final mixture through a fine-meshed sieve, pressing down with the back of a spoon to remove any lumps then pour the smooth batter into oiled pans (two well oiled baking trays about 30cm square are ideal). The mixture needs to be poured very thinly.

Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 250°C and place under the grill (broiler), ensuring you turn the grill on. Cook for about 8 minutes or until very dark brown (almost burnt) and burst any bubbles that form with a sharp knife. Slice into pieces and serve immediately, garnished with plenty of black pepper and extra-virgin olive oil.