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Cecina (Chickpea pancake)

Cecina (Chickpea pancake) is a traditional Ancient Roman pancake or flatbread made from chickpea (gram) flour. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient Roman version of: Cecina.

prep time

10 minutes

cook time

20 minutes

Total Time:

30 minutes

Serves:

4

Rating:

Tags : Vegetarian RecipesBread RecipesBean RecipesAncient Roman Recipes

Original Recipe

This is a well-known Italian dish, a traditional recipe from Nice, though the same essential is also known in Tuscany. It is typically eaten as an antipasto (snack). Though in Pisa it is also eaten within a sandwich made from pizza dough (this is known as Fritella con Cecina). Most Italians lay claim to the ancientness of the recipes and similar-looking flatbreads are known from the murals of Pompeii.

Modern Redaction

Ingredients:

340g Gram (chick-pea) flour
750ml (3 cups) cold water
2 tbsp olive oil
ground black pepper and salt to taste

Method:

Place the flour in a bowl and season with black pepper. Create a well in the middle and add a cup of water. Mix this in then keep adding a little more water, mixing thoroughly each time until a batter the consistency of single cream is produced (in effect you're looking for the consistency of pancake batter). Finally add the oil and salt, mixing them thoroughly into the batter.

Take a heavy frying pan, add a little olive oil in the centre and head. Now take a ladle of the batter and pour into the middle of the heated frying pan using a spiral motion to pour the batter. Keep on adding batter until the base of the frying pan is entirely covered with a thin layer of batter.

Let this cook fairly slowly on one side until it looks as if it's cooked through. Now turn up the heat and flip the pancake over. Turn the heat down again and let the pancake cook thoroughly on the other side.

The finished cecina should be crisp on the outside and soft in the centre.

Cut it up into slices, arrange these in a tower on a plate and sprinkle with black pepper before serving.