What I cooked this week

In my search for gluten-free ideas I stumbled on a recipe for socca, a French style of pancake/flatbread, a popular street food in Nice, where they are cooked on a griddle and served warm with rosemary and pepper in a paper bag. They are simple to make and need four ingredients — chickpea flour, salt, water and olive oil. They are great eaten on their own with a sprinkling of olive oil and grated cheese or used as a base for a salad, or rolled up like a wrap.

You can add crushed garlic, chilli or a spoonful of seeds to the batter in the pan — I added chopped herbs. I cooked the socca in a nonstick pan to which I added a little sunflower oil, pouring it off before adding the batter. They are nicest eaten straight out of the pan. At a stretch they can be refrigerated, but better still is to keep the mixture in the fridge and fry the next day.

SOCCA

MAKES 12 SMALL FLATBREADS

150g chickpea flour

5ml (1 tsp) salt

30ml (2 tbsp) olive oil

300ml warm water

Freshly ground black pepper

15ml (1 tbsp) fresh herbs of choice, finely chopped

Sunflower oil to grease the pan

In a mixing bowl combine the flour and salt. In a jug mix together the olive oil and water. Make an indentation in the flour and add the oil and water, pepper and herbs and, using a whisk, stir until smooth.

Cover and allow to stand for 15 minutes. The mixture must have a pourable consistency and if it is too thick, add a little more water and whisk.

Pour mixture into a jug and, using a nonstick pan, pour in a tablespoon of oil, swirl around the pan and pour off before adding 15-30ml of mixture and swirling around pan.

Cook for 2 minutes until the edges are dry. Carefully turn to cook on the other side. Slide out of the pan onto a plate and make the next one.