My kid loves pizza. What kid doesn’t? When I told her we were having a new kind of pizza for dinner she looked at me with a skeptical sidelong glance. “It’s Ruby’s favorite, you’ll love it,” I told her. Ruby is the 8-year-old daughter of my food writer friend and neighbor and is 3 years senior to my daughter, thus making her an expert in everything. Swapping kid-friendly recipes, my friend told me about socca, a French pancake-like food made from chickpea flour (also called garbanzo bean flour). Our other neighbor, who is gluten intolerant, chimed in saying his picky-eater kids love this socca pizza, too. And, as chickpea flour is naturally gluten-free, he can eat it as well.
Socca (also known as farinata in Italian) is deliciously light, slightly nutty, and is so easy to make it’s essentially foolproof. Best of all, it’s kid-friendly!
Below is a basic socca batter recipe, feel free to jazz it up by adding your favorite herbs and spices. We also used what we had on hand for toppings: cherry tomatoes, green onions, and a handful of crumbled feta cheese. The options are endless, so top your socca with whatever you have on hand.
Gluten Free Socca Pizza with Cherry Tomatoes, Green Onions, and Feta
Makes 1 10-inch pizza
For the batter:
Will make 2-3 "pancakes" depending on thickness and skillet size
1 cup chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour
, such as Bob's Red Mill Garbanzo Bean Flour
1 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for the pan
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
For the topping:
A handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
3-4 green onions, finely chopped
Crumbled feta cheese
Freshly cracked black pepper
Mix batter and let rest at room temperature for an hour or overnight in the fridge.
Preheat oven to 450° F.
Thoroughly oil an ovenproof skillet and set it in the oven for about 5 minutes to heat up.
Remove from oven and pour in about a 1/4 inch of batter into skillet. Add toppings and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges set and the pizza begins to firm up. Turn the oven up to broil and book until lightly golden and nicely crisp.
Cut into wedges and serve. It’s also good warm or at room temperature.
