Farinata (Ligurian Bread/Snack)

evelyn/athens's Note:

Adapted from Mark Bittman’s recipe in the New York Times. Note that this makes approximately 6 farinata - it really depends on the size of the skillet you use and how thick or thin you end up liking them.

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 3 farinat ...

• 1 cup chickpea flour (available at healthfood shops)
• 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt (or to taste)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more (for cooking)

Directions:

1. Whisk chickpea flour, salt, and water until no lumps remain. Whisk in 2 tblsps olive oil. Cover and set aside at room temperature overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 450°F.
3. Put a well-seasoned cast iron (or non-stick) skillet in the oven to warm up for 5 minutes. Add a little olive oil to the skillet (enough to generously coat the bottom) and return to the oven for 2 more minutes.
4. Whisk the batter well before using. Pour in enough batter to cover the bottom of the skillet and form 3mm thick layer (about 3 times the thickness of a crepe). The batter will sizzle. Place the pan in the oven, and cook until the pancake is dry on top and solid in the center when you nick it with a knife, about 12 minutes.
5. Carefully remove farinata to a plate, add more oil to the pan and repeat with the rest of the batter. Serve as soon as farinata is out of the pan, or put on a cookie sheet in one layer and warm up in the oven after you finish the batter.
6. Cut into wedges and serve as a snack. Or fill with all kinds of savory goodies like a crêpe.

Reviews

[Maito]

I set out to make one of our beloved favorites from Liguria and was happy to find this recipe. I tweaked it a little based on how I thought I could make it most like what we have enjoyed in Italy. In an effort to try replicate how they are made over there, I increased the oven temp to 550 and put the cast iron pan on top of a pizza stone. I found that this did make 3 farinata. We made the first one too thin, and heated the oil in the oven, and most of it burned. So the subsequent ones were better when we didn't heat the oil (and used less - a half tablespoon per batch worked perfectly), and used almost a cup of batter. I used 3/4 tsp of regular salt, and it was just the right salty for us. I also sprinkled caramelized onion over the batter of some of them, and that was a great addition. I let the batter sit for one hour. It was fine - the texture and consistency (of the last one, which we also broiled for 2 minutes at the end to brown the center) was perfect. We love farinata and with a tiny bit of tweaking this worked out just as we had hoped - delicious! A side note: It is easy to find chickpea flour at Indian stores here.