I’m obsessed with Soccas! They are savory, crispy pancakes made with simple, clean ingredients like chickpea flour, water, olive oil, and salt. They are popular street food in Nice, France, where locals sprinkle them with lots of freshly ground black pepper and serve them with cold glasses of rosé. You want to leave the Socca under the broiler, so it becomes crispy on the bottom sides and edges. Crisp Socca also makes a fine gluten-free pizza crust, with a flavor slightly reminiscent of falafel, and it’s even easier to make than pizza dough. Socca, socca! (Sing it like polka, polka!) This Socca is topped with za’atar, Tuscan kale, fennel, tahini, and lemon juice.
2 servings
Ingredients
½ cup chickpea flour
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided Kosher salt
3 garlic cloves, divided
15-oz. can chickpeas, drained
1 tablespoon za’atar (or curry powder, chile powder, or frankly any other combination of mild dried ground spices)
1 small bunch Tuscan kale, stemmed, leaves torn
1 small fennel bulb, very thinly sliced crosswise
¼ cup tahini
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Directions
Whisk chickpea flour, 1 tablespoon oil, a pinch of salt, and a 1/2 cup water in a medium bowl. Let soccer batter sit at least 10 minutes or up to 1 hour to let flour hydrate
Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoon oil and 2 garlic cloves in a medium nonstick skillet over medium, tossing occasionally, until garlic is lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add chickpeas and increase heat to medium-high. Cook, tossing occasionally, until chickpeas are lightly browned, 6–8 minutes. Add za’atar and toss several times to coat chickpeas; season with salt. Add kale and continue to cook, tossing occasionally, until kale wilts, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl, add fennel and toss to combine. Reserve skillet.
Finely grate the remaining garlic clove into a small bowl. Whisk in tahini, lemon juice, 2 tablespoon\ oil, and 2 tablespoon water until thick and smooth. Season with salt.
Heat 1 and a half tsp. oil in reserved skillet over medium-high. Add half of the reserved socca batter to the center of the skillet and tilt the skillet so that it spreads out to a thin 6″–7″ pancake. Cook, undisturbed, until well browned and crisp underneath, 2–3 minutes (crank up the heat to high if needed to get crunchy edges and nice browning). Turn and cook just until lightly browned on the second side, about 1 minute. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining 1½ teaspoon oil and batter.
Top each socca with chickpea salad. Drizzle with tahini sauce.
