Fainá Food

FAINá (CHICKPEA FLOUR PANCAKE)

Steps:

• Double-mill the dried chickpeas, once very coarse and a second time fine. You can also use store bought chickpea flour.
• Mix in the water and the optional sourdough starter. Cover and let the batter sit a minimum of 2 hours and ideally overnight.
• For a not-sour pancake, don't add the sourdough starter and limit the rest time to 12 hours. For a mildly sour/fermented pancake, add the sourdough starter but refrigerate the batter overnight, or skip the sourdough starter and rest the batter for about 24 hours. For a very sour pancake, add the sourdough starter and leave the batter at room temperature overnight, or skip the sourdough starter and leave the batter at room temperature for 3-4 days.
• After the rest, add the salt and pepper to the batter and mix thoroughly.
• Preheat your oven to 450F, with one shelf below the middle and another shelf higher than the middle of your oven.
• Put the olive oil into a cold 10-inch skillet, cast iron or stainless steel, and heat it on the stove. Don't let the oil get to the point of smoking. I have an infrared thermometer and found 360F worked well.
• Add the batter to the skillet and let it cook until the edges curl in a bit, 1-3 minutes.
• Carefully transfer the skillet to the lower shelf of your hot oven.
• Bake for about 25 minutes (10 minutes on the lower shelf and another 10-15 minutes on the higher shelf).
• Use a metal spatula to separate the fainá from the base of the skillet; then leave it in the skillet to cool for about 10 minutes.
• Transfer to a cutting board and serve. Fainá reheats well in a toaster oven or on a fry pan, but is also tasty cold.

FARINATA

Steps:

• Put water in a large bowl. Slowly add in chickpea flour, mixing it with a wire whisk. Add salt to the mixture. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 3 hours or overnight. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Remove the foam from the top of the chickpea mixture. Grease a baking pan, about 12 by 16-inches, with oil. Once greased, add 2 tablespoons oil. Add chickpea mixture. Use a fork to combine the oil and chickpea mixture. Sprinkle generously with pepper. Heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil in a medium nonstick pan on medium heat. Add onion and cook for 10 minutes. Top the farinata with the onion slices and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes before cutting.

FAINá: GARBANZO FLATBREAD

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a medium bowl, whisk the garbanzo bean flour with the salt, 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, the Parmesan cheese (if using) and a generous amount of ground black pepper.
• Whisk in 1 3/4 cups of water until the mixture is well blended. Set the batter aside for about 30 minutes at room temperature to let the garbanzo flour absorb some of the water.
• Preheat the oven to 450 F. When it is hot, place the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil in a 12-inch pizza pan. Heat the pan in the oven until very hot.
• Gradually stir remaining water into the batter mixture until it is thin enough to pour. Remove the hot pizza pan from oven, and immediately pour the batter into the pan. The batter should make a thin layer, about 1/4 inch. Place the pan back in the oven and bake until fainá is golden and crispy about 8 to 10 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the oven.
• Cut the flatbread into pieces and serve hot. This recipe uses a 12-inch pizza pan. You can use a smaller pan to make thicker fainá, which will need a slightly longer baking time. Note that you will need the batter to rest at least 30 minutes before you bake it. It can be rested for longer, even overnight. While in South America this flatbread is served alongside or on top of pizza, it is also delicious to use as the base for pizza toppings. After baking the fainá, top it with cheese, meats, or vegetables and return it to the oven until the cheese has melted.

SOCCA (FARINATA)

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 450. Put a well-seasoned or nonstick 12-inch pizza pan or cast-iron skillet in oven. (If you have a socca pan, obviously that will work well also.)
• Put the chickpea flour in a bowl; add the salt and pepper. Slowly add 1 cup lukewarm water, whisking to eliminate lumps. Stir in 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cover and let sit while the oven heats, or for as long as 12 hours. The batter should be about the consistency of heavy cream.
• Remove the pan, pour 2 tablespoons of the oil into it and swirl. Add the onions return the pan to the oven and cook, stirring once or twice, until they're well browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the rosemary. Stir the onions and rosemary into the batter, then immediately pour the batter into the pan. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the pancake is firm and the edges set.
• Heat the broiler and brush the top of the pancake with 1 or 2 tablespoons of oil if it looks dry. Set the pancake a few inches away from the broiler, and cook just long enough to brown it in spots. Cut it into wedges, and serve hot or warm.

FARINA BREAD

Steps:

• Mix together the Farina, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
• In a separate bowl mix egg, milk and oil together.
• Add egg mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. Batter will be a little lumpy.
• Grease loaf pan and pour batter into pan.
• Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes or until done.