Socca Chickpea Pancakes
With a bag of chickpea flour in the pantry, you are just minutes away from snacking on these crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside socca chickpea pancakes. Socca are savory crépe-like pancakes made with chickpea flour, olive oil, and salt. Just whisk it all together with enough water to make a pourable batter. (Turmeric is an optional fifth ingredient.) After a few minutes of standing to hydrate the flour, whisk the batter again. Pour out a portion of the batter into a nonstick skillet and cook like a thin pancake.
The great thing about socca is that they are not only delicious and satisfying, they are incredibly versatile.
- For a light snack, just fold and eat like you would a crêpe.
- Fold around scrambled eggs and veggies, burrito-style, for an on-the-go breakfast.
- Make a socca pizza by topping with pesto, or another sauce, and any topping you like. (Pictured here: Socca topped with whatever I had in the fridge: hummus, shredded cabbage, cilantro, and Parmesan cheese.)
- Make a “soccata” by adding vegetables to the socca while it sets up for a frittata-like substantial meal. Think: broccoli florets and feta, cherry tomatoes and basil, or leftover roasted cauliflower with scallions.
- Serve as an appetizer cut into triangles for scooping up dip.
- Make a “wrap” by stuffing socca with leafy greens, roasted veggies, some sort of sauce (hummus thinned with water is good) —basically any little morsels of brain healthy leftovers you have in the fridge.
- Use socca as the crêpes in my Garlicky Mushroom and Swiss Chard Manicotti.
Chickpea flour is a brain-healthy, gluten-free flour made from garbanzo beans
Chickpea flour is packed with nutrients your brain loves: fiber, vitamins, iron, magnesium, and a whopping 23 grams of protein per cup. (Wheat flour has 13 grams of protein.) All that protein makes these little crêpes help you feel full and satisfied. And, chickpea flour has a low glycemic index, meaning it won’t make your blood sugar or insulin spike, a process we know is bad for the brain.
If you are new to cooking with chickpea flour, you are in for a treat. Also called garbanzo bean flour, gram, and besan, chickpea flour is a versatile, nutrient-dense ingredient to have in the pantry. It can be used instead of flour to give foods a creamy texture (like in my Pumpkin Polenta) while adding an earthy, nutty, flavor. Chickpea flour can even replace some of the white flour in baked goods to add a savory nuance to sweets. (That’s how I developed these chocolate chunk cookies made with chickpea and buckwheat flours.) And, chickpea flour can add flavor and give structure to your homemade meatballs when used in place of bread crumbs.
Chickpea flour is also inexpensive. Really! Unlike other alternative flours that have risen to popularity from the gluten-free fad, one 12-ounce bag of chickpea flour is under $3. I highly recommend Bob’s Red Mill brand of chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour for best results. You may also find a blended flour of garbanzo and fava beans and that is fine to use to make socca.
Socca can replace the white foods in your diet
Once you start eating socca, other less brain-healthy foods will be squeezed out of your diet. Use socca where you would normally reach for flour tortillas, English muffins, white bread, pancakes, crackers, and chips. Anytime we can replace white flour in your diet with something even more delicious and nutrient-dense, it’s a win for the brain.
Socca are easy to make ahead
Make a batch of socca batter and keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days, waiting for whenever you need to make something good to eat fast. Just give the batter a quick stir, warm a pan with a drizzle of olive oil, and you are just minutes away from a nourishing socca. Or, if you happen to have a few more minutes, cook up all the socca and store them in a stack, tightly wrapped. Pull them out as you need them, warming briefly in a small frying pan or in the microwave, before eating.
Prep Time | 5 minutes |
Cook Time | 10 minutes |
Passive Time | 5 minutes |
Servings |
socca
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- 2 cups chickpea flour Chickpea flour, or garbanzo bean flour, is often sold with other products by Bob's Red Mill.
- 2 cups water Add almond or nut milk for some of the water for even more nutrients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil plus more for the pan
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
- ½ teaspoon turmeric freshly grated or ground, optional
Ingredients
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- Whisk all the ingredients together in a medium bowl. Set batter aside to rest for 10 minutes.
- Warm 1 teaspoon olive oil in a a 6-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pour in ⅓ cup socca batter and swirl to create an even pancake.
- After about 2 minutes, air bubbles will appear on the surface of the socca. Use a spatula to release its edges from the pan, then carefully lift and turn over. (Be gentle! Socca are delicate and can easily tear, but they still taste delicious.) Cook on the other side for about 2 minutes, or until it is crispy and starting to brown.
- Place finished socca on a plate. Eat as is, or topped with whatever you like. Pictured here: hummus, shredded cabbage, cilantro and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.
Be sure to use a nonstick pan for cooking socca. I favor a well-seasoned cast iron or ceramic nonstick frying pan. This recipe calls for 6-inch socca but you can make any size you want. For making pizza, a 12-inch cast iron skillet works well. I also love making mini-socca in 3-inch cast iron pans; they are especially good served as an appetizer with your favorite dip. For soccata, a 6-inch skillet works best.
To store: Keep the socca batter in the fridge for up to 5 days and make them as hunger strikes. Or cook up the whole batch and store in the fridge tightly wrapped in plastic. Socca also freeze well; place socca pancakes in a stack divided by parchment paper; wrap with plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months.
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