Serve this soft, tender chickpea focaccia as an appetizer with a glass of wine. Topped with summertime veggies and herbs, and perfect for nibbling on!
Marcella Hazan, author of The Classic Italian Cookbook and Marcella Cucina is regarded as the queen of Italian cooking in North America. After making her incredible Fried Eggplant Balls with Melted Mozzarella Center (Polpette di Melanzane) recipe, I was inclined to crown her queen, king, prince, or whatever title she desired.
When I spotted her recipe for soft chickpea focaccia (farinata), using chickpea flour, I was sold. The original recipe called for topping the focaccia with onions. However, with a overactive zucchini and rosemary plants in the garden, I made a few substitutions. As Marcella describes in her book, farinata is a thin, very soft focaccia. It is like eating a flavorful, savory hummus in the form of a bread. Divine! This is perfect as an appetizer, served with a glass of wine.
The main ingredient for farinata is chickpea flour, which is used in a variety of ethnic cuisines. If you have ever eaten Indian pakoras (fritters), Middle Eastern falafel, French Socca or Italian (Ligurian) Panissa, then you have sampled chickpea flour. It can be found in well-stocked supermarkets, but is available in Indian markets for a fraction of the price.
How to make chickpea focaccia (farinata):
In a medium bowl, combine 2 ½ cups water, 1 teaspoon salt,
½ pound (about 1 ⅔ cups) fine chickpea flour,
and 2 tablespoons olive oil.
Stir well with a whisk.
Let the mixture rest at room temperature for 4 to 6 hours.
Cut part of a zucchini into 12 very thin slices (about 1 ½ ounces), lay the slices on a piece of paper towel in a single layer, and sprinkler with salt. Let the zucchini rest for 30 minutes so that it releases much of its water. Dab the zucchini dry with a paper towel.
Roast a red bell pepper, remove the charred skin, and cut half of the pepper into very thin slices. Set the other half aside for another use. If you are unsure how to roast a bell pepper, check out my tutorial.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Strip about 1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary leaves from a spring of rosemary and stir the rosemary into the chickpea flour mixture.
Brush the bottom of an 11 by 7 by 2-inch nonstick pan with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
Pour the thin batter into the prepared pan and place it in the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the mixture starts to set. Lay the zucchini and roasted red pepper slices evenly over the batter and bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until the edges turn brown and become crisp.
Remove the focaccia from the oven, let cool for a few minutes, and gently remove from the pan. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper. Cut into about 12 pieces.
This is best served warm, but will still have great flavor if left at room temperature for a couple of hours. It will not, however, taste good the next day.
Printable Recipe
Soft Chickpea Focaccia (Farinata) with Zucchini
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine water, salt, chickpea flour, and 2tbsp olive oil. Â Stir well with a whisk. Â Let the mixture rest at room temperature for 4 to 6 hours.
- Lay the zucchini slices on a piece of paper towel in a single layer, and sprinkler with salt. Let the zucchini rest for 30 minutes so that it releases much of its water. Dab the zucchini dry with a paper towel.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Â Brush the bottom of an 11 by 7 by 2-inch nonstick pan with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
- Stir the rosemary into the chickpea flour mixture. Pour the thin batter into the prepared pan and place it in the oven.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the mixture starts to set. Lay the zucchini and roasted red pepper slices evenly over the batter and bake for an additional 20minutes, or until the edges turn brown and become crisp.
- Remove the focaccia from the oven, let cool for a few minutes, and gently remove from the pan. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper. Cut into about 12 pieces.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclosure: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Southern Grace Gourmet
I have never heard of chickpea flour before, but this recipe looks amazing, I will have to try!
GF Gidget
I love socca! I just recently posted "Socca It to Me Pizza". I'm going to have to try your focaccia recipe.
Divina Pe
Wow, those are gorgeous chickpea foccacia. I have to try this one. Would it work if I use raw chickpeas then grounded if I couldn't find the chickpea flour?
Cherry Blossom
another of you fantasic recipes - what a tasty picture... i think i still have some chickpeaflour somewhere... this is a must try
Karen
Time for another ingredient hunt! I need to get me some chickpea flour 😀
citronetvanille
Looks like Marcella Hazan created some great recipes. I did not know her, but did some research and it looks like she developed a different Italian/Jewish cuisine. Funny how some ingredients like chick pea flour can be use in so many cuisines. It is not really a traditional Italian ingredient, but certainy tastes great. Beautiful picture! love it.
Miranda
Wow! This is a homerun as my husband would say~LOL
Beautiful dish and pictures!
Joelen
Gorgeous job and I love love love the use of chickpea flour! I've often seen it at ethnic markets I shop at but tend to pass it up because I don't know of many recipes in which to use it. Next time I might have to pick some up and give this a whirl!
My Man's Belly
This looks wonderful. I'm doing a detox and can't have wheat flour...so I've got quite a bit of chickpea flour around.
Angie's Recipes
Have you ever cooked anything that doesn't look and taste good at all?
I am drooling......just looking at the picture.
Angie's Recipes
Tasty Eats At Home
Ooh! Ooh! I can have this! It's gluten-free! Yummy! Will definitely bookmark.
Cookin' Canuck
Judy, thanks so much. I'm glad you enjoy the recipes.
Cooking Mama, falafels can also be made using fava beans, or a combination of fava beans & chickpeas.
RecipeGirl, how funny that chickpea flour came up on Top Chef last night. Good timing for this post!
Doggybloggy & Maria - thank you!
Mowie, let me know if you try this with quinoa flour. I'd be interested to know how it turns out.
Kalyn - hmm, I'll have to search for the Italian chickpea flour, too. I'll look at Whole Foods for the bulk chickpea flour.
Janet, I hope you enjoy it. It has such an beautiful, creamy texture.
janet
That looks so amazing, printing out the recipe now!
Maria
I love fresh rosemary, our plant did great this year. I am going to have to try this one and soon!
Kalyn
This looks just delicious. I love the idea of topping it wiht zucchini and rosemary! When I made farinata, mine turned out more like crackers, and I decided after the fact that I probably made them too thick. No problem though, because they were devoured anyway! Someone told me that the chickpea flour in Italy is different than that from the middle east or India, so I've been trying to remember to find some real Italian chickpea flour and compare. BTW, another good place to buy chickpea flour is the bulk food bins at Whole Foods, very cheap there.
Mowie @ Mowielicious
That just looks so fresh, light and yummy, must give it a try - I absolutely love focaccia and think chickpea flour would be divine, never tried it. Just recently discovered quinoa flour, that might be great too.
doggybloggy
wowzee wowzee wowzers - this looks great!
RecipeGirl
This is gorgeous- I love that it's so different. It's funny... they were just talking about chickpea flour on Top Chef last night, and I had never heard of it before that!
Cooking Mama
I LOVE falafel but never realized it was made with chickpea flour. Interesting. I guess I need to start doing my homework on new things I eat! 🙂
Judy
Oh my goodness, such a brilliant recipe. I don't know how you come up with so much variety as there's always something new and different : it's wonderful to log on and see so many exciting ideas. Thank you!