Socca has been street food in Nice for well over a century, sold in wedges off a copper pan. It is chickpea flour, water, olive oil and salt — nothing else — which makes it a rare thing: a bread that is gluten-free by nature, not by substitution. We make ours with organic gluten-free chickpea flour, which has the earthy, savoury depth the dish depends on.
Prep time: 5 min (plus 2 h rest) | Cook time: 10 min | Serves: 4 as a starter
Ingredients
- 125 g (1 cup) organic gluten-free chickpea flour
- 300 ml (1¼ cups) water, room temperature
- 45 ml (3 tbsp) good olive oil, plus more for the pan
- 5 g (1 tsp) fine sea salt
- To finish: cracked black pepper, rosemary, flaky salt
Method
- Whisk the chickpea flour and water together until completely smooth, then whisk in the olive oil and salt.
- Cover and rest at room temperature at least 2 hours, or overnight in the fridge. The flour hydrates and any raw, chalky taste disappears — this rest is the whole recipe.
- Skim off any foam. Put a 25 cm cast iron pan in the oven and heat to 245°C / 475°F, or heat the grill with the pan beneath it.
- Pull the hot pan out, add 2 tbsp olive oil and swirl, then pour in the batter to about 5 mm deep. It should hiss.
- Bake 8-10 minutes, until set, golden and blistered with dark spots at the edges. A minute under the grill deepens the char.
- Slide onto a board, scatter with rosemary, flaky salt and plenty of black pepper, and tear into wedges.
Eat it hot, standing up, the way it is sold in Nice. It also makes an excellent base for anything you would put on a flatbread — soft cheese and herbs, roasted peppers, or nothing more than good oil.
