Tomato-Basil Socca

 

I was making space in the freezer and found the last little bit of a bag of garbanzo bean flour.  Yes, I keep it in the freezer.  I keep just about anything ground in there and whole nuts.  The open bag of all-purpose flour is the exception, and that's mainly so it doesn't get knocked over.  Prevents infestations in the pantry, and high-fat items don't go rancid.

There was half a cup left when I measured it, enough for a two-serving socca.  Earlier that morning, I was lamenting that some of the basil was starting to bolt again.  Mentally evaluating my refrigerator, I came up with this at the market and only needed a couple of Roma tomatoes.

Blogger has made some recent changes.  They are intended to make the posts easier to compose and read on a smartphone.  I had a huge rant written for this post about how nothing works and the formatting sucks.  When I came back the next day to add photos, most of those problems had been fixed.  It isn't quite as good as the old program, but it's slowly getting there.  I must not be the only person who was shopping for a new blogging platform.

For the sake of the blog, I'm posting this as a 10", four-serving recipe.  The photos will be the smaller one I actually made.

*1 C garbanzo bean (chickpea) flour

1 C water

3 Tb olive oil

*1/2 tsp dried rosemary

*1/2 tsp parsley flakes

*1/2 C fresh basil leaves

*1/2 C diced red onion

salt to taste

2 Roma tomatoes, diced

plain yogurt for garnish

1.  At least 2 hours ahead, stir together garbanzo bean flour, water, 1 Tb of olive oil, rosemary, a touch of salt, and parsley flakes.  Allow to sit at room temperature up to 8 hours.  This is similar to pre-soaking dried beans.

2.  Finely chop the basil and add to the batter with the diced onion.  Stir to combine and let sit while you preheat the oven.

3.  Preheat oven to 450º with an oven-safe 10" skillet in it.  When oven is to temp, pull out skillet WEARING OVEN MITTS and place on a stove burner.  Add about 2 Tb oil to the pan and swirl to coat the bottom.  Add more if necessary.

4.  Add batter to pan and swirl to distribute evenly.  Enjoy the aroma of the basil starting to cook.  Immediately place skillet back in the oven and cook 20-25 minutes, until top is set and looking dry, and edges are browned.

5.  Carefully remove socca from skillet onto a work surface and cut into wedges.  Plate and sprinkle with diced fresh tomatoes and a dollop of plain yogurt.  Serve hot or room temperature.  I had it with pao de queijo and pickles on the side, including the pickled celery.

Difficulty rating  :)