Socca Nicoise

Socca - the chickpea - garbanzo pancake from Nice in the south of France. Tasty - healthy and gluten free.

• 1 cup/150g. Chickpea/Garbanzo flour.
• 1-1/4 cups/250ml. luke warm water.
• 3 tbls. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 a tsp. of salt.
• Plenty of ground black pepper.

1. Mix the water, oil salt and pepper in a glass bowl with an electric whisk.
2. Gradually add the chickpea flour whisking all the while.
3. Leave the batter to rest for at least ten minutes, the longer the better. We usually leave it in the fridge over night.
4. OK - lightly oil a medium sized non-stick pan, making sure it has a metal handle that can go in the oven.
5. Now - heat your grill/broiler.
6. Heat the pan until really hot and add half the batter.
7. Cook for a couple of minutes until browned on the bottom.
8. Pop the pan under your grill/broiler until browned on top.
9. Alternatively you can make small pancakes using a small non stick fry pan - place over high heat and add a little olive oil. Pour in enough batter to cover well the base of the pan. Cook until golden on the base, flip over and cook the other side till golden. Serve.
10. Then - if you're eating it on its own - serve with glasses of chilled rosé wine, and if you like a savoury topping add now and put it back under the grill for a couple more minutes.