How-to Make Chickpea Flour and Socca Pizza

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How-to Make Chickpea Flour and Socca Pizza

I know by now, I really don’t have to tell you guys how much I enjoy making things from scratch! I would say that is quite apparent after over 4 years of blogging. Mostly I choose this way of living because I would always prefer to know what exactly is in everything I am eating. I love knowing that things are safely gluten-free and not processed or filled with weird, scary junk.

How-to Make Chickpea Flour and Socca Pizza

Until I received The Homemade Flour Cookbook from Erin Alderson, the thought had never really occurred to me to try making my own flours at home. I know what you are thinking – ‘flour? you are gluten-free, what do you want with a book all about how to make homemade flour?’ (or something along those lines, am I right?) I too honestly thought that there may be a recipe or two for me in here, but there are several chapters filled with wonderful tutorials and tips on making flour from gluten-free grains to legumes, seeds, nuts and so on.

This wonderful book is an in-depth guide to a variety of nutritious flours, milled right in your own kitchen plus a wide range of tasty recipes to create with your homemade flours. The possibilities are endless and the delicious dishes are a testament to the amazing things you can do with homemade flour.

How-to Make Chickpea Flour and Socca Pizza

It is no secret I love soccas! I have previously shared recipes here and here. Soccas are just amazing. They are a pancake or crêpe of sorts, made of chickpea flour. Served hot and crispy, this chickpea pancake is a quintessential street food found in Nice, France. Many times it is browned or even blackened around the edges, and it has an almost custard like, soft and tender inside. Serving one as a pizza is quite brilliant and although the texture is slightly different from a traditional dough, it is delicious in it’s own right and it’s a totally unique way to shove pizza toppings into your face!

How-to Make Chickpea Flour and Socca Pizza

This socca is satisfying, yet still light. The crust is a bit softer than a tradition crust but yet it lends itself so well to being covered with delicious toppings of the pizza persuasion. Depending on how many toppings you load up, it may turn out a fork and knife is a better choice than your hands, but either way you have a delicious and simple pizza.

Making this socca from a homemade chickpea flour was a breeze. Dried chickpeas processed in the Blendtec took but a few minutes to turn into flour, then I sifted the flour and voila, perfect homemade chickpea flour great for a homemade socca. In the The Homemade Flour Cookbook, Erin takes the time to give you all of the many options for milling your flours and what works best for each type. The options can vary depending on what you are milling but oftentimes if you don’t have a grain mill, you can use a high speed blender, like a Blendtec or a coffee/spice grinder. Because of their size, chickpeas can be a little large and odd sized for a grain mill, so I opt for my Blendtec high speed blender, it works great every time.

How-to Make Chickpea Flour and Socca Pizza

Since beans can at times have a very strong flavor, soaking and/or cooking the beans first can lessen that. I usually do that, but I don’t every single time, since I personally don’t mind the flavor. That said, as I mentioned in my how-to/tutorial post on sprouting, soaking and sprouting beans offers a variety of nutritional benefits, so if you have the extra time, it is always worth it for that reason.

How-to Make Chickpea Flour

How-to Make Chickpea Flour and Socca Pizza

How-to Make Chickpea Flour and Socca Pizza

Place the dried chickpeas into your high speed blender. Pulse several times until the chickpeas are broken down into a fine powder and a flour begins to form. You may want to open up the blender and make sure none of the mixture is stuck around the blades, to ensure it is getting milled evenly. Remove from the blender, add to a sieve or a sifter to sift out any large pieces. If there is a large amount of non-flour bits left in the sifter, simply return to the blender and continue grinding. Voila, chickpea flour.

If using a coffee grinder, do this is batches and only fill the grinder half full. Pulse until a flour begins to form. Sift, return any bits to the grinder and continue pulsing. Sift and repeat, finish with the remaining beans until it is all in flour form.

Weights and Measurements:

  • 1 cup chickpeas = 180 g
  • 1 cup chickpea flour = 120 g
  • 1 cup (180 g) chickpeas = 1 1/2 cups (180 g) chickpea flour

Notes:

If you prefer to soak your beans first for the wide variety of reasons that make them easier to digest, simply soak the beans as you normally would (you could even sprout them), then dehydrate them before grinding.

If you wish to cook the beans first to mellow out the flavor even more, you can also do that. Soak the beans and cook as usual, then dehydrate the cooked beans and make your flour from there.

ALWAYS make sure your beans are fully dried first, so they don’t clog your grinder. If your beans are cooked and skins have loosened, you can discard the separated ones but leave the other skins in tact on the beans.

 

How-to Make Chickpea Flour and Socca Pizza

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Tomato Basil Socca Pizza

makes one 10-inch pizza
Recipe from The Homemade Flour Cookbook by  Erin Alderson

You can try different cheeses and change things up, you could even opt for a tomato sauce instead of fresh tomatoes. I was lucky enough to find a delicious goat milk mozzarella at Whole Foods, but regular mozzarella will do just fine.

  • 1 cup (120 g) chickpea flour
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/4 cup Terra Delyssa Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 large tomato, sliced 1/4 inch thick
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella or other cheese*
  • 3 or 4 basil leaves, julienned
  • red pepper flakes, optional

In a bowl, whisk together the chickpea flour, water, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the garlic and the salt. Let sit for 1 hour.

Turn on the broiler with a rack positioned 8 inches from the heat and place a 10-inch oven proof skillet in the oven to preheat. Once the skillet is hot, carefully remove from the oven and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Swirl around to cover the bottom. Pour in the chickpea batter and return the skillet to the broiler. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes, until the socca is set and the edges are browning. Remove from the oven, turn off the broiler and turn the oven to 425ºF.

Spread the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil on top of the socca. Layer the tomato slices around the socca. Sprinkle the cheese on top and return the skillet to the oven. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the cheese is browning and the socca is crisp. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the basil and red pepper flakes on top. Let cool for 2 to 3 minutes before serving.

Notes:
I used a goat milk mozzarella.
The original recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups cheese

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14 Responses

  1. How funny! I just made chickpea wraps on my blog too 🙂
    Love the recipe Beth!

  2. UM, sign me up for homemade flours! And why have I never thought to do this. Does making almond meal/flour count? I feel like it doesn’t. And that pizza looks perfect. While my pizzas usually end up tasting good, I can never get them to look perfectly round. Bravo. P.S. Still can’t believe you and Aida hiked in this crazy LA heat. Triple digits are my worst enemy.

    • Beth @ Tasty Yummies says:

      It’s soo fun! I am kinda obsessed, I want to make ALL of the flours, now! Don’t be fooled, my pizza is only perfectly round because of the cast iron skillet. I am certainly not that skilled.
      And yes, I am kinda still impressed with that hike that Aida and I took, too! It was intense. I was sore for a couple of days. It was kinda amazing.

  3. Erin says:

    Thank you, Beth! The socca looks just perfect!

  4. Leeann says:

    Hi Beth,
    I have been wanting to make my own flours and I’m excited to try this out! The one question I have: if you don’t have a high-speed blender, would a regular blender work? When I made almond flour I found that the almonds didn’t break-up very well. Could that be the blender or do I just need some more practice on making flours? The cookbook seems like it might be a great reference for a beginner like me! Thanks!

    • Beth @ Tasty Yummies says:

      A high speed blender is really key in making flours at home, if you don’t have a mill or a grinder. That extra power really makes sure you end up with a fine grind. If the almonds didn’t do well in your blender, the chickpeas most certainly wouldn’t, since they are much harder. It’s definitely not you, it’s the blender. The cookbook is great for tips on milling, other ways to do it, etc. I highly recommend it.

  5. Wow I never heard of socca but I’m already obsessed by it. I love EVERYTHING chickpeas so I have to try this. Tomorrow! Or maybe tonight? I will use the chickpea flour of Bob’s though, because I don’t have a high speed blender.
    Ooooh I love this recipe Beth & Erin, thank you for sharing!

  6. thefolia says:

    Eureka…dried chickpeas! I can never get my crust crispy–I always blamed it on the tomato sauce even if I baked the crust first…my socca or pizzas always are soggy. I can’t wait to try with the dry goods! Thanks for the tip…happy nesting!

  7. That Socca pizza looks incredible! I’m absolutely making this one!

  8. Shelby says:

    Beth! Just came across your blog and lovin it. Definitely trying this recipe. So many store bought “gluten free” crusts that have so much sodium and other junk. Can’t wait to see more!! xx

  9. I like your postings as it have lots of information about the food and i am a true food lover. Thanks for sharing.

  10. Randy says:

    How do I dehydrate soaked chick peas?

  11. Tracy says:

    This is EXACTLY what I was looking for. I love the ratios so I can make a smaller version if I want to. So many GF pizza crust recipes out there that have so many ingredients and also grains that I cannot eat like oats. Excited to try this.
    I used to make chickpea tortillas….this is the same idea. Love it.
    Thank you

  12. Keira says:

    always looking for new gf dough recipes to try.

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