This is a flatbread that we made with some California friends. They have a cousin who owns a nice Pasticceria in Lucca who give us the recipe and technique, and our samples (which were great). The bread is simple, though finding chickpea flour might not be. :-) It is very similar to a French Socca, from Provence. I have heard Cecina called Chickpea Pizza as well.
We have used Cecina as part of a vegetarian meal of risotto, grilled peppers, and baked eggplant -- all made in a hot brick oven. It also makes a great appetizer. You can get it to-go for lunch throughout Tuscany.
Ingredients
1 cup chickpea flour
2 cups water (I have seen recipes with a 1:1, 1:1 1/2, and 1:3 but this works well.)
2 TSP olive oil
Dash salt
Preparation
Mix the batter (it is very watery) and let set for 2-4 hours.
Fire your oven so that is is hot and ready for fire-in-the-oven cooking. Maybe two Mississippi's. This is a good brick oven recipe because it cooks best with top and bottom heat.
Pour a liberal amount of oil in a baking sheet with 1" (or so) sides. Add enough batter to make a 1/4" - 1/2" thick flatbread, and bake for 10 minutes. It should be brown on top. Cut and drizzle with olive oil, and serve immediately. The commercial bakery has seasoned cast iron pans, so that Cecina does not stick to the bottom, but we did OK with steel pans as well.
Chickpea flour is both healthy (a good source of protein) and tasty. Enjoy! |
