Socca with artichokes recipe
A crispy crêpe made from chickpea flour and baked in special pans in a wood oven, socca originates from Nice and is very moreish. It’s simple to make, even if you don’t have a wood oven to hand. The batter always works best when made the night before.
Ingredients
- 200 g Italian chickpea flour (farina di ceci)
- 1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for frying
- 4 small artichokes
- 1 sprig of rosemary, leaves picked
- 1 grating of parmesan, to finish (optional)
- 1 pinch each of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 7.1 oz Italian chickpea flour (farina di ceci)
- 1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for frying
- 4 small artichokes
- 1 sprig of rosemary, leaves picked
- 1 grating of parmesan, to finish (optional)
- 1 pinch each of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 7.1 oz Italian chickpea flour (farina di ceci)
- 1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for frying
- 4 small artichokes
- 1 sprig of rosemary, leaves picked
- 1 grating of parmesan, to finish (optional)
- 1 pinch each of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Details
- Cuisine: French
- Recipe Type: Chickpea
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 25 mins
- Cooking Time: 5 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
- Sieve the chickpea flour into a large bowl and then slowly whisk in 360ml/12floz cold water, taking care to beat out any lumps.
- Whisk in the olive oil. The batter should now be the thickness of single (light) cream. Leave to stand, covered, in the refrigerator overnight.
- Preheat an overhead grill (broiler).
- To prepare the artichokes, remove the tough outer leaves by snapping them off with your thumb and forefinger. Remove more leaves until what is left seems paler and tender to the touch.
- Cut the top 1cm/0.5in off the artichoke, at the point where you see the artichoke changing colour from purple to yellow. You might need to cut off some of the stalk – usually anything more than 5cm/2in away from the head is too tough. Using a paring knife or a vegetable peeler, trim the stalk of any tough dark green bits.
- Cut the artichoke in half and remove the choke (the fuzzy centre). Slice lengthways into fine strips. Keep the prepared artichokes in lemon water until ready to use.
- When ready to eat, drain the artichokes and season them with salt.
- Place a non-stick frying pan (skillet) over a high heat until it is very hot.
- Add an even depth of around 1mm/1⁄32 inch of olive oil to cover the whole pan.
- As the oil begins to smoke, slowly pour in the chickpea batter. The layer of batter should be no more than 2mm/1⁄16 inch deep, like a thick crêpe. The oil will fizz up and start to make bubbles around the outside of the batter.
- Scatter the artichokes over the top of the socca along with the rosemary leaves. Cook for 1 minute over a medium heat to crisp up the bottom of the socca.
- Remove the pan from the heat and place it under the hot grill. Grill the socca until golden brown and crispy on top, but still a bit soft inside. It may catch slightly in places but this is to be encouraged.
- Slice the socca into strips straight from the pan. Grate over some parmesan, if desired, then sprinkle with flakes of salt and grind over black pepper. Eat hot.
This recipe is from Sardine: Simple seasonal Provençal cooking by Alex Jackson. Published by Pavilion Books. Photography by Matt Russell.
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