This crispy spiced chickpea socca tastes deliciously sweet and nutty. The batter is simply chickpea flour, olive oil and water spiced with curry and chile and baked till crisp on the edges in a hot cast iron skillet. So good!
Socca pancakes are super-simple to make, perfect for last-minute me, and anyone who, like me, operates on short notice. You just whisk the gluten-free bean flour, olive oil, salt, spices and plenty of freshly ground pepper with water. Bake the batter in a hot cast-iron skillet, in a very hot oven. Five minutes to mix, 10 minutes to rest, and 20 minutes to bake.
With plenty of garbanzo bean protein you can serve these crispy socca treats for dinner, paired with garlicky sautéed kale and a salty black olive tapenade. Cut into smaller wedges or squares and top with a sweet and tangy chutney, this skinny chickpea pancake can be your new gluten free appetizer.
For a sweet-savory dessert, top your spiced chickpea socca pancake with fresh fruit, compote, or jam.
I’ve wanted to try my hand at socca for a long time, ever since snacking on them hot off the griddle at an outdoor market in France.
I’d bought a bag of chickpea flour and it sat in the pantry unused, for I’m not telling you how long, waiting for inspiration. I needed a kick in the socca-cooking butt!
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Inspiration for this recipe comes from two of my favorite cookbooks, Gina Hamshaw’s Food52 Vegan: 60 Vegetable-Driven Recipes for Any Kitchen, and Madhur Jaffrey’s Vegetarian India. I took Gina’s basic socca recipe and spiced it like Ms. Jaffrey’s chickpea flour pancakes.
Hamshaw’s recipe says to let the batter rest 10 to 15 minutes. Jaffrey’s says rest the batter 2 hours. The resting time didn’t seem to make any difference in texture or flavor. I’ve read that soaking chickpea flour will help your body digest the beans, so if I can, I mix the batter a couple hours before I bake it.
The cool thing is that many people don’t know about socca, so you can get the conversation going by serving the wedges with dollops of something tasty on top. Author Hamshaw’s favorite socca toppings are garlicky sautéed greens and salty olive tapenade. She also likes avocado–your favorite quacamole would be yummy.
You’ll love this crispy socca made into a gluten-free pizza crust. Partially bake the socca and finish baking with the same toppings you might put on homemade whole wheat pizza crust.
I’d heard about the legendary woman who sells chickpea socca in Nice’s outdoor market. When we were traveling in southern France, in Nice, my girlfriend and I made a point to visit the market to sample the famous socca. Needless to say, that taste memory lingers.
Crispy Chickpea Socca Pancake recipe notes:
- Chickpea flour, also sold as garbanzo bean flour, (affiliate link) is nothing more than dried chickpeas ground into flour.
- This socca recipe calls for a 12-inch cast iron skillet. (Affiliate link.) If your skillet is smaller, make two and pour less batter in your pan, about 1/8-inch thick.
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This post contains affiliate links. When you purchase products via my links, it doesn’t cost you anything and I earn a tiny commission, which helps me continue to provide free content here on Letty’s Kitchen. Thank you!!
Spiced Chickpea Socca Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup chickpea flour , aka garbanzo bean flour
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon red chile powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garam masala or curry powder
- Freshly ground black pepper , about 20 generous grinds
- 1 cup water , room temperature
- 2 tablespoons olive oil , plus more for the pan
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and turmeric, chile powder, curry powder and black pepper in a large bowl. Whisk in the water and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Let the batter sit for 10 to 15 minutes or up to 4 hours. The batter will be similar to a thin pancake batter.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F and put a 12-inch cast iron skillet in the oven.
- Remove the skillet from the oven and coat the pan with 1 (or 2) tablespoon(s) of olive oil. Pour the batter into the hot skillet and bake for 15 minutes, until firm throughout and lightly browning on the edges. Either bake it about 5 minutes longer, until just starting to brown on top, or, for a more traditional socca, turn on the broiler. Brush the top of the socca with a tablespoon of olive oil and broil until browning on top. Cut into wedges and serve right away.
Notes
- This socca recipe calls for a 12-inch cast iron skillet. (Affiliate link.) If your skillet is smaller, make two and pour less batter in your pan, about 1/8-inch thick.
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the hot skillet, before pouring in the batter, makes the edges more brown and crispy.
Sounds so good and I have never heard of socca! · 18 April, 2016
Socca will become a “bread” you use all the time–at least it has for me Tammy, now that I finally made it! · 18 April, 2016
I am planning on making this tonight. I am thankful to see there are other options for gf alternative breads other than rice alternatives. I absolutely loved chickpea and have used the flour for baked goods as well as other foods. · 14 June, 2022
Thank you! · 17 June, 2022
I have a HUGE bag of chickpea flour I bough for a specific recipe and have been staring at the remainder ever since. I’ll give this a try. GREG · 24 April, 2016
Thanks Greg–let me know what you think after you dig into that bag for your socca-making adventure! · 25 April, 2016