Soak up the goodness of your life with this Italian originated SOCCA recipe! Whether your a health fanatic or not we are allllllll searching for the right reasons to eat pizza everyday of our lives. Well GUESS WHAT! Now you can!!! Because this pizza crust is made of 4, I repeat 4 HEALTHY ingredients.
Chickpea flour
Water
Sea Salt & Pepper
& your choice of herbs & spices! ………….. common what are you waiting for, GO!!!
How amazing are chickpeas though guys? Like honest to goodness I don’t know what I would do without them.
I have to say when I first started this new journey of mine approximately 3 and a half years ago I had nooooo idea one single healthy ingredient could transform into so many various forms of food.
Like take the Chickpea or Garbanzo bean for example…. I have legitimately turned chickpeas into pasta form, I’ve made them into soft tortilla and pita shells ready to be stuffed with everything and anything. I’ve used them as a substitute for “egg” omelettes for breakfast, I’ve mashed them up with avocado/red onion/dill and spices to make chickpea “egg” salad for a quick & healthy high protein lunch. AND I’ve even served it up as a crispy flatbread cracker at dinner parties with friends.
Adding this SOCCA recipe to the list ultimately just blows Chickpeas right off the charts! End of story.
I am beyond excited to announce that J and I have booked our trip to Italy!!! WHEU!
Being as Europe has been on both of our bucket lists for quite some time, that feeling of ultimate satisfaction without even being at our destination yet is making me smile so so big. Knowing we did it on our own, him and I, when we felt the timing was just right.
Countdown is officially on…… 🙂
Ok so let’s get back to business.
This SOCCA recipe is 100% gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan.
Also, you can rest assured that you aren’t eating any of the strange gums or refined flours usually found in gluten-free foods. Socca is basically a pancake made from just chickpea flour and water! Making it the perfect base for your wholesome homemade pizza!
Traditionally, Socca is made by stirring chickpea flour into a mixture of water and olive oil to form a loose batter, then it is baked in an open oven until it forms a smoky, blistered crust.
I skip the olive oil during the “batter” stage and instead will pour over extra virgin olive oil to serve (if necessary) preserving the goodness of the oil and lowering the caloric intake.
Like all the best recipes in the world, Socca is pretty easy and quick to do. There are a few ways to make it depending on how you want to eat it in the end.
You can
A) Cook it as you would a pancake, in a non-stick frying pan with a tiny bit of grease (coconut or avocado oil). Pour enough batter to cover the base around 1/2 a centimetre thick and let the underside cook for around 1 minute (it is ready when it lifts off completely). Flip the base and cook the other side until golden brown. Roast up some fancy topping like red peppers, caramelize some onions and make a tangy tomato sauce. OH and don’t forget the cheese! Then layer your toppings onto the Socca pizza crusts and roast in the oven at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, with a blast under the broiler for 2 minutes to give it that golden crust. (YUM!)
On those HOT summer days You can
B) Avoid the oven completely and after cooking it up on the stove (directions above) top it up with easy on-hand fillings and eat it open-sandwich style!
Lastly, my favourite way to enjoy SOCCA is by
C) Using a cast iron pre-heated skillet and baking it right in the oven for 10 minutes, broiling it at the very end for that “blister” effect. (directions in recipe below)
It is best if eaten immediately after baking while still warm, however it can be refrigerated and re-toasted for up to a week!
Trying out all of the different kinds of ways of making Socca has been epically fun. I thought I would share this delicious recipe I created mixing the combination of Italian & Mexican flare giving the end result a HEALTHY SOCCA MEXICAN PIZZA + a mouth-watering Avocado lime “cream” sauce.
I used a combination of things I had on hand including:
Refried Beans by Taste Adventure
Fresh Corn
Red & Orange Bell Pepper
Onion
Black Beans
Goat Cheddar – which can easily be substituted for ANY cheese to your desire. There are many dairy-freee cheese options as well as vegan options (ie. nutritional yeast, kite hill ricotta, cashew cheese etc)
Avocado
Lime
0% all natural SKYR Yogurt by Sheperd’s Gourmet Dairy (can easily be omitted completely)
Fresh Parsley
Go ahead and make these Socca pizza’s into any flavour you wish!
And remember now that you have 7 days a week to eat it you can literally eat the rainbow 🙂
Happy Thursday Friends! XOXO
(vegan) 
(gluten-free) 
(dairy-free)
