Cecina

This is a flatbread that we made with some California friends. They have a cousin who owns a nice Pasticceria in Lucca who gave us the recipe, technique, and our samples (which were great!) The bread is simple, though finding chickpea flour might not be. 🙂 Try natural food stores first or the specialty area of the flour section in most grocery stores. Chickpea flour is also known as garbanzo bean flour or Besan flour.

This flatbread is very similar to a French Socca, from Provence. Cecina is sometimes referred to as ‘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 of salt

Preparation

Whisk together the chickpea flour, salt, and water. (Add the water gradually to avoid lumps.) When the batter is nice and smooth, add the olive oil and stir together. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the batter rest for 2 -4 hours.  (It will be very watery.)

Fire your brick oven so that is is hot and ready for fire-in-the-oven cooking. (425°F or 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 (about 1 Tbsp) in a baking sheet with 1″ sides (or so.) Add enough batter to make a 1/4″ – 1/2″ thick flatbread, and bake for 10-15 minutes. It should be golden brown on top and slightly creamy in the middle. Cut into squares and drizzle with olive oil, and serve immediately. You can also grind fresh pepper on the top when it comes out of the oven or sprinkle with fresh rosemary.

• Commercial bakeries have seasoned cast iron pans so that the Cecina does not stick to the bottom, but steel pans work as well.

Chickpea flour is both healthy (a good source of protein) and tasty. It’s best served hot out of the oven. You can also serve it accompanied with fresh sausage and beans, ham or cheese. Enjoy!