Socca bread (Farinata)

Reading through the fabulous "Free From Food for Family and Friends" by Pippa Kendrick, I came across "Socca bread", made from only gram (chickpea) flour, olive oil and water. This was a fabulous discovery, since chickpeas are one of the few protein rich foods my daughter can currently have!

I did some research on the internet, since the roasted vegetable version Pippa has wouldn't have been possible for us, and discovered it is really, really versatile! In France it is known as Socca bread, in Italy it is called Farinata.

You make it exceedingly thin, like pancakes - there is a great recipe here.

Alternatively, you can bake it deeper to make a more filling bread, which is what we decided to do.

Ingredients

• 150g Gram Flour
• 3 tbsp Olive Oil
• 250ml water
• Pinch of salt

Method

• Sift the gram flour into a mixing bowl. (Gram flour tends to settle and get lumpy.)
• Whisk in the olive oil and water until completely smooth
• Apparently the batter should ideally sit for at least 1-2 hours before cooking.
• Pour into a flan dish for a thick bread
• Bake at 180C for apprize 30 minutes until cooked.
• Cut into wedges and serve!

Tip: This is so versatile, you can add roasted vegetables, olives, caramelised onions, bake it thin like a pizza or thick like a bread. It can be pitta bread texture or soft wedges. You choose!


UPDATE

Today I tried a thinner version of the batter, with just a little more water, and it made a lovely pancake. When the batter started to cook I added roasted courgettes, carrots and puy lentils to half and flipped it over. Apparently it was delicious!

Courgette Fritters

So, as per my previous post we are starting our #FewFood diet imminently. Less than two weeks....  The reason for this delay is that such a big change really needs to be monitored carefully and we are starting immediately my daughter breaks up from school.

Two of her permitted foods are courgette and chickpea. Chickpea is also available in flour form, known as Gram Flour. Gram flour, also known as garbanzo bean flour, or besan, is a pulse flour made from ground chickpeas known in a number of Asian countries as gram. It is a staple ingredient in Indian, Pakistani, Nepali and Bangladeshi cuisines. You can find recipes on the BBC site for gram flour, assuming you are able to use more than a handful of foods!

When mixed with an equal proportion of water, it can be used as an egg replacement in vegan cooking so it works well as a batter. Gram flour contains a high proportion of carbohydrates, no gluten and a higher proportion of protein than other flours.

I was hoping to make my own few food version of vegetable pakoras, which can be found here. Having learned from our Facebook group than fizzy or sparkling water is brilliant for creating a batter I used some with the gram flour, and it did mix up to a nice thick consistency. This time I cut the courgettes into chunks and steamed them for a few minutes to soften. Then I dipped them into the batter and attempted to coat them sufficiently before frying in a little olive oil.

This was the gram flour I used - from Dove's Farm.

The verdict - really tasty if eaten immediately, but the batter became quite tough and leathery when cool. So definitely an option t eat straight away.

In actual fact after discussion wit our dietician  we've swapped the courgettes for carrots, perhaps easier and more filling, but it was a useful experiment!