Socca is a flatbread made from chickpea flour, aka besan or garbanzo bean flour, and is cooked in stone ovens throughout Southern France, primarily in and around Nice. It is one of my favorite snacks and brunch side dishes. It can replace bread in sandwiches, dough in pizza, or cornbread alongside chili. Chickpeas are legumes with higher amounts of protein than most cereal grains and before being ground into flour they are either roasted or left raw. The roasted is much better flavor wise, I find it impossible to get the bitterness out when it’s originally raw. Any winter squash can work but I like butternut because it adds some sweetness, colour and lots of vitamins. The tapenade is all about the caramelized onions which balance out the sharpness of the black olives.
- Tapenade
- 3 yellow onions, chopped finely
- 1 cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
- 1 cup merlot
- 1 tablespoon butter (or 1 tablespoon extra olive oil for dairy free)
- 1 tablespoon cold-pressed olive oil
- 1 tablespoon grainy mustard
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 dash of sea salt
- Socca
- 1¼ cup water
- 1 cup chickpea flour
- ½ cup butternut squash, cooked
- 1 tablespoon cold-pressed olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- 1 dash of black pepper
- Optional: a few leaves of arugula for the top
- Tapenade
- Place a large pan over medium heat on the stove and melt the butter with the olive oil. Add in the onions and stir occasionally. After around 10 minutes add the dash of salt. Once the onions start sticking to the pan add in the wine bit by bit as needed to keep the pan from getting completely dry. Altogether they should be fully caramelized in 30 minutes or so, they will be soft, sweet and darker in colour. While they are cooking I like to make the socca so they are ready at the same time. Now add all the other ingredients and mix with a hand held mixer or food processor.
- Socca
- Preheat the oven to 400º. Whisk all the ingredients except the oil in a large bowl until well combined and frothy. Place the oil in a sturdy frying pan, with an even and heavy base that is around 9 inches in diameter, and place in the oven for a minute to heat up the oil. Remove the pan carefully and swirl the oil around so it is evenly distributed, and then pour the mixture into the pan and place back into the oven for 25 minutes. The top should look slightly blistered and it should be cooked through. Cut and serve immediately or place on a wire cooling rack so the bottom does not get soft or soggy.