We all know that commercial where Oprah is like, “I LOVE BREAD.” I could be in the same commercial, but with socca (… or bread, let’s be honest).

I LOVE SOCCA.

This unleavened, naturally gluten-free chickpea bread is one of my favorite things to make for myself (socca for one!) and for having people over because it’s sort of impressive and no one else has to know that it’s basically only one ingredient.

What is socca?

Socca (in France) or farinata (in Italy) is a garbanzo creation made from chickpea flour, olive oil, water and salt. That’s it. Sometimes it’s tender like a pancake, sometimes it’s a little crispier like a cracker. Depends on what you’re going for. Mine is more on the pancake end of the spectrum (with a nice crispy crust on the bottom!).

This incredibly simple and ancient recipe goes back further than written history, so the exact origins aren’t known. There’s a legend that Roman soldiers invented it by cooking it on their shields, though that seems doubtful because everybody knows that women have invented all the best foods. Even if it’s 10% true, I guarantee one of those Roman soldiers learned how to make it from his mom.

I love socca because it’s so easy and it goes with almost anything. For years now I’ve kept chickpea flour in my pantry for this exact purpose. I don’t use it for anything else except socca. I’m sure there are other applications, including desserts and the Indian snack sev (which I would try to cook if I weren’t terrified of deep-frying). I choose to reserve all of my garbanzo bean flour stash for socca.

What do you need to make socca?

• garbanzo bean/chickpea flour—I like Bob’s Red Mill Garbanzo Bean Flour.

• water

• olive oil

• salt

• an oven-friendly pan—I use a non-stick enamel pan (pictured). A cast-iron pan is used often with socca recipes, too.

How to make Socca

vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free recipe | serves 2-4

Ingredients

• 1 cup chickpea flour

• 1 cup water

• 1/2 tsp salt

• ~2 T olive oil

Instructions

1. Put your dish in the oven and preheat it to 475 F.

2. Whisk together the chickpea flour, water and 1 T of the olive oil. Let the batter hang out for a few minutes.

3. Carefully remove the very hot pan from the oven. Drizzle in the remaining olive oil to coat the pan (don’t be stingy if you need a bit more).

4. Pour in the batter and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the edges are nice and crispy and the top is fully set.

5. Let it cool slightly before carefully transferring it out of the pan.

6. EAT.

Notes

• This iPhone photo is from one of the first times I made socca, and it wasn’t the most photogenic effort BUT I wanted to get this recipe up since it had just been sitting in drafts forever. Perfection is not necessary in a socca. :)