Socca (chickpea pancake)

Socca is a gluten-free pancake made with besan (chickpea) flour from Nice in the South of France. Often topped with herbs, tapenade, onions or roasted vegetables, this version is served with sweet and spicy roasted pumpkin, herbs and fetta cheese.

Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

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Ingredients

• 250 g besan flour
• 700 ml water (room temperature)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tsp sumac
• 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

Pumpkin & herb topping 

• ½ butternut pumpkin
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ¼ cup honey
• Salt and black pepper
• ⅛ tsp sumac
• ⅛ tsp Aleppo pepper
• 100 g feta
• ¼ cup mint leaves, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup dill sprigs, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup toasted pepitas
• 1½ tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Resting time: 30 minutes, overnight is best

Instructions

1. Place the besan flour into a large mixing bowl, then gradually whisk in the water to make a smooth, pancake-style batter. Whisk in the salt, pepper, sumac and olive oil. Allow the batter to rest for 30 minutes minimum, before using. This can be made several days in advance and stored in the refrigerator until required.
   
2. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 200°C. To make the topping, peel the pumpkin, then slice and transfer to a baking dish lined with baking paper. Drizzle with olive oil, honey, a generous pinch of salt and pepper, sumac and the Aleppo pepper and toss well to combine. Roast for 10-15 minutes, or until tender. Remove and allow to cool slightly before using.
   
3. Heat a generous drizzle of oil in a 26 cm heavy-based, nonstick frying pan (or cast-iron pan) over high heat, then use a ladle to spoon in the socca batter. The batter needs to cover the base of the pan, but not be too thick.
   
4. Spoon the roasted pumpkin over the pancake (similarly to topping a pizza) then transfer to the oven and bake for a further 7 minutes, or until the socca is cooked and the base is crisp. Remove the socca from the oven and gently remove it to a cutting board.
   
5. Cut the socca into wedges, then crumble over the feta cheese and sprinkle with herbs, and toasted pepitas and sesame seeds. Serve.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

Culinary Adventure

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

G

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

G