With pancake day on the horizon, I thought I'd share a great vegan, gluten-free alternative to the traditional variety.
Farinata - sometimes known as a chickpea pancake in English - originates from the Liguria region of Italy. When travelling in the area I discovered that from town to town, in the provinces of Genoa and La Spezia, a humble dish appeared on countless menus: farinata. The children loved it so I decided to give it a try at home.
Farinata is fantastically simple and requires just four ingredients including water! It’s great as a snack or accompaniment to your aperitivo and is a great low carb, gluten-free alternative to bread or potatoes as a side dish.
Chickpea flour
Chickpea flour also known as gram flour, garbanzo bean flour and besan flour is the key ingredient. It's low carb, light on calories; high in protein and fibre, and gluten-free.
The chickpea flour from Veggy Duck seems expensive at £7.49 a kg. However, 150g makes two farinatas, so a little goes a long way. Gram flour from the world food aisle would probably be a cheaper option, but I've yet to try this.
Ingredients for farinata (chickpea pancake)
Makes two
150g of chickpea flour
350ml of water
50ml of olive oil, plus extra for cooking
Two sprigs (or to taste) of rosemary chopped
Salt and pepper
Method for making farinata
1. Whisk together the chickpea flour, water and oil then cover and leave to rest for at least an hour.
2. Remove from fridge and add the salt (I use a combination of salt flakes and table salt), pepper and rosemary. Give another good whisk as the flour will have sunk to the bottom.
3. Preheat the grill
4. Add a splash of oil to an ovenproof skillet/frying pan on the hob and heat on a medium setting
5. Pour in half of the mixture (it should be a bit thicker than a regular pancake) and swirl it around so that it evenly disperses and reaches the edges of the pan
6. After about two minutes, move the pan to the grill. Leave under until the farinata turns golden on top and the edges begin to brown and come away from the pan sides.
Done!
I have a big bag of gram flour and this will be a brilliant lower carb higher protein thing to do for us! Putting the pan under the grill is also such a good idea - I do that with omlettes too.