Farinata Genovese Ligurian Chickpea Pancakeflatbread Food

LIGURIAN CHICKPEA PANCAKE (FARINATA)

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Put the water in a bowl. Use a whisk to beat the chickpea flour into the water, stirring briskly to keep lumps from forming.
• Whisk in a healthy pinch of salt too, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it rest for at least 4 hours in a warm but not hot place.
• When the time is up, preheat your oven to 440 F / 220 C. Use a slotted spoon to remove the foam that will have formed on the surface of the batter, and then mix in half of the oil, using the other half to oil your pans.
• Pour the batter into the pans-it should be between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick or 5 and 10 millimeters.
• Bake the farinata for 20 minutes, until it has firmed up and become golden. Slice it up and serve it hot, with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

CECINA OR FARINATA - LIGURIAN CHICKPEA FLATBREAD

Steps:

• In a mixing bowl add chickpea flour and gradually start adding water. Whisk well until the batter is smooth with an even consistency and without lumps.
• Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and let it sit for at least 5 hrs. Better yet, leave it at a room temperature overnight. Otherwise you risk getting a grainy texture instead of creamy and custardy.
• Preheat the oven to 500F.If you're using a cast iron skillet place it in the oven as well.
• Skim off any foam that could have formed on the surface of the batter and whisk well after that. You'll notice how creamy and smooth the batter had become, especially if you let it rest for a longer time and allowed the flour to absorb as much liquid as it needed.Add 1 tbsp of olive oil and salt to taste. Stir well.
• Once the oven is preheated to the right temperature, spread remaining tablespoon of olive oil over your preheated cast iron skillet or pizza pan. Pour the batter into the pan.Using a fork stir gently the olive oil on the pan to create an even and well diffused texture.
• Carefully place the pan in the oven and cook for 10 minutes. After that turn the oven to broil and cook farinata for another 10-15 minutes until golden brown.
• It tastes best when seasoned with freshly ground black pepper and a few pinches of salt.

LIGURIAN FARINATA (SAVORY ITALIAN PANCAKE OR FLATBREAD)

Steps:

• In a large bowl, add the flour to the water, a little at a time, mixing and seasoning with salt until all of the flour and water has been absorbed; Add Optional Rosemary at this point.
• Let it rest for 4 hours (Or even better overnight).
• After this time, a layer of foam will have developed on the surface - Scrape it off with a spoon.
• Add the olive oil and remove the Rosemary (Optional) - Stir until all the Oil is absorbed.
• Pour into an olive oil well greased baking pan - the right one is called testo, made of "tinned copper" It should be about an eighth of an inch thick, perhaps a little more - a small deep dish Pizza pan will do (We used an iron skillet).
• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Remove from the oven when one of the corners (or the edge) starts to appear dark and has turned a golden color.
• Sprinkle plenty of pepper and eat immediately.
• ***It is of paramount importance that the pan is perfectly flat and level when in the oven, otherwise one of the corners will be thicker and will be undercooked when the opposite corner starts to darken. It tends to stick if you do not use enough oil. Also use parchment paper.

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.