Socca
A single thin chickpea pancake baked in a screaming-hot pan until the edges blister black and the middle stays custardy.
- Prep
- 10m
- Cook
- 15m
- Waiting
- 2h
- Total
- 2h 25m
- Serves
- 4
- Effort
- Moderate
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 3 tbsp | Heat the pan with the oil in the oven until it smokes 15m A cold pan glues the batter down. The oil has to be shimmering before anything touches it. | Pour the batter into the smoking pan and bake at 250°C / 480°F for 10 minutes 10m It should be no more than 5 mm deep. Thicker and the centre never sets properly. | Finish under the grill for 2 to 3 minutes until the surface blisters and blackens in spots 3m The dark patches are the point. Evenly golden socca tastes of raw flour. | ||
| 150 g | Whisk to a smooth, thin cream with no lumps 5m Add the water in two goes — a stiff paste first, then thin it. Dumped in at once it lumps. | Rest the batter at room temperature for 2 hours, then skim the foam 2h Resting lets the flour hydrate fully; the foam is trapped air that would otherwise make it spongy. | |||
| 400 ml | |||||
| 1 tsp | |||||
| 1/2 tsp | |||||
| 2 tbsp | |||||
| a lot | |||||
| 1 tsp | |||||
-
Heat the pan with the oil in the oven until it smokes
15m- olive oil 3 tbsp
A cold pan glues the batter down. The oil has to be shimmering before anything touches it.
-
Whisk to a smooth, thin cream with no lumps
5m- chickpea flour 150 g
- water 400 ml
- fine salt 1 tsp
- ground cumin (optional) 1/2 tsp
Add the water in two goes — a stiff paste first, then thin it. Dumped in at once it lumps.
-
Rest the batter at room temperature for 2 hours, then skim the foam
2h- from 2 Whisk to a smooth, thin cream with no lumps
- extra virgin olive oil 2 tbsp
Resting lets the flour hydrate fully; the foam is trapped air that would otherwise make it spongy.
-
Pour the batter into the smoking pan and bake at 250°C / 480°F for 10 minutes
10m- from 1 Heat the pan with the oil in the oven until it smokes
- from 3 Rest the batter at room temperature for 2 hours, then skim the foam
It should be no more than 5 mm deep. Thicker and the centre never sets properly.
-
Finish under the grill for 2 to 3 minutes until the surface blisters and blackens in spots
3m- from 4 Pour the batter into the smoking pan and bake at 250°C / 480°F for 10 minutes
- black pepper a lot
- rosemary (optional) 1 tsp
The dark patches are the point. Evenly golden socca tastes of raw flour.
Thin batter, brutal heat
Chickpea flour has no gluten, so nothing traps gas and nothing gives structure except set protein and gelatinised starch. That means the texture depends entirely on the heat gradient: a very hot pan sets and browns the underside within seconds while the centre is still liquid, and the two-hour rest matters because fully hydrated flour sets smoothly rather than gritty.
At lower temperatures the whole depth cooks at the same rate and you get a uniform, rubbery disc instead of crisp edge against soft middle.
Notes
- One pancake per pan. Two batches beat one thick one.
- The batter keeps overnight in the fridge and improves. Whisk before pouring.
- Eaten standing up, torn by hand, within about five minutes.