On holiday in the South of France we tried the traditional Niçoise socca for the first time and couldn’t believe how delicious it was. It’s crispy and pancakey like a pizza and it really lends itself to all the flavours of a pizza or a sandwich, because like bread it’s a blank canvas. It’s also gluten free and made with chick pea flour so it’s high is protein. If you make small ones they could be fantastic as gluten free canapé bases… just sayin’. They are really easy to make, too… and my new store cupboard staple.

Recipe
Serves 4

Ingredients:

To make soccas
1 cup of chickpea flour (gram flour)
1 cup of water
1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil plus more for frying
1/2 teaspoon of salt (a pinch if it’s for a sweet recipe)
pepper to taste

To top with
A bag of rocket
500g of assorted mushrooms sliced
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Truffle oil
1-2 cloves of garlic minced
Parmesan shavings (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

How:

To make soccas

Whisk together all the ingredients and leave covered in the fridge for a few hours.
Heat a large frying pan with a dash of the olive oil and pour some of the batter in to the centre and swish around till the batter coats the bottom of the pan. When the batter starts to firm up, flip over and cook the other side till golden.
If you prefer your socca pancakey then serve it like this. If you like it crisper you can, once cooked, place them into a hot oven to crisp up a bit more for about five minutes and they will be more pizza like.

To garnish

Heat a large pan and put the olive oil garlic and mushrooms in and gently cook them till they are soft and starting to colour. Place them on the socca and shave the Parmesan over the top. Put a little handful of rocket on top and sprinkle with the truffle oil. Add a grinding of pepper and serve. You can squeeze a bit of lemon on too if you fancy it.
I shop at:
Waitrose
Sainsbury’s
Tesco
Lidl