Socca Pizza

Do you ever fall into a food rut? You find yourself making the same thing for dinner every week? I found myself in that rut a couple months ago. We were in desperate need of something new for dinner. Unfortunately, I was really struggling in coming up with new ideas.

In a recent research endeavor, I came across a recipe for socca. - a french flat bread/cracker made from chick pea flour. I originally wanted to use this to create something grain and gluten free to eat with hummus. However, it was closing in on dinner time and I still didn't have anything planned. I wondered what would happen if I made these crackers thicker, to be more of a pita type sandwich wrap. The first try was a giant fail. It crackled and crumbled all over the place.

I was so disappointed! I had this great idea and picture in my head and it totally bombed. But, sometimes out of our greatest frustrations come our greatest triumphs. A sandwich wrap fail became an amazing crust for a pizza!! Its delicious, believe me! Ok, even if you don't, you really should try this.

SOCCA PIZZA

1/2 cup chick pea flour (garbanzo bean flour)
1/2 cup water
pinch of salt
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
optional: seasonings of your choice (basil, oregano, garlic)

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
Pour oil in a heavy bottom, oven proof skillet. Heat pan and oil in the oven until HOT.
(My skillet is about 10 inches in diameter. If you are using a larger skillet, you will want to up the amounts of flour and water to accommodate the change. Just keep the measurements equal.)

In a bowl, whisk all ingredients together and let them sit for about 10 minutes, while the pan heats.

When the pan is hot, pour the batter into the pan and return in to the oven. Bake for about 15 minutes. You'll know its ready to flip when the batter has completely set and is no longer runny in the middle. Flip the socca and return it to the oven for about 5-10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and turn on the broiler. Top the pizza as desired and place under the broiler to melt the cheese and heat toppings.

*Note: We found we didn't like this with traditional pizza toppings. The chick pea flour gave it just a bit of an odd taste.

Topping Suggestions:
Pesto, provolone cheese, chicken sausage and spinach
Thai peanut sauce, chicken, thinly sliced cabbage, thinly sliced carrots, thinly sliced red bell pepper, cilantro and jack cheese
BBQ sauce, chicken, sliced red onion, corn and jack cheese