Socca are chickpea flatbreads, a signature dish all along Liguria, the region that stretches down the Italian coast with the port of Genoa at its heart. The area is also known for its original Ligurian pesto, and you could write poems about its flavour and richness. Inspiration from the traditional cooking of the Mediterranean regions of Italy, Spain and Greece is, for me, always among the tastiest and at the same time the most wholesome. Mainly because it uses local fresh ingredients, without needless complications. That is also why I have picked a recipe for a Slovak variant, where we use bryndza (Slovak sheep’s cheese) and, instead of basil, wild garlic, and make a really thick and rich pesto.
Ingredients:
Flatbreads:
- 150g chickpea flour
- 250 ml lukewarm water
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- sea salt
- black pepper
Bryndza “Pesto”
- 150 g bryndza
- wild garlic, 2 handfuls (approx. 100 g)
- olive oil 150 ml
- lemon juice 1 tbsp
- sea salt
- black pepper, chilli pepper (optional)
Method:
1. Mix the chickpea flour with the lukewarm water and the olive oil and season with salt
2. Leave to rest for 5 minutes at room temperature and meanwhile prepare the pesto
3. Blend the wild garlic with the olive oil and lemon juice
4. Add the bryndza to the pesto, blend it with a hand blender and season with pepper
5. Fry the prepared mixture into flatbreads straight in a hot pan brushed with olive oil
6. Serve like a pizza. Spread the flatbreads with the bryndza pesto and eat them with fresh tomatoes or red pepper.
My tricks and possible alternatives:
- If you have no particular problem with gluten, you can also try spelt or kamut flour instead of chickpea flour.
- Instead of bryndza you can also use other Slovak fresh goat’s or sheep’s cheeses.
- As a side dish I would ideally recommend a rocket salad with balsamic vinegar and fresh tomatoes.
- You can also make the flatbreads thicker: pour the mixture onto a baking tray and put it into the oven at a high temperature with the grill on.
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