Farinata Genovese Recipes

FARINATA GENOVESE : LIGURIAN CHICKPEA PANCAKE/FLATBREAD

Steps:

• Sift the chickpea flour in a bowl. Add salt and mix. Slowly add water to start mixing it to eliminate lumps. Add in 1 tablespoon of oil and mix everything.
• Cover, and let sit for one hour, or overnight. The chickpea will absorb the batter and and will thicken.
• Adjust the consistency of the batter by adding a bit of water if required. We do not need to runny or too thick batter. Something similar to dosa or crepe batter.
• I let the cake tin first get heated in the oven for 5 minutes. Then I added about 1 tablespoon of Oil.
• Added the Onion to it and let it again cook in the oven for a minute.
• I added Rosemary to it (leaving about 1/2 teaspoon). and gently poured the batter on top of it.
• Sprinkle the remaining rosemary on top of it and let it bake for 20-40 minutes. Mine was done in 20 minutes. Baking time will vary based on type of pan used.
• Turn on broiler and broil for a minute or two until the top gets browned.
• Allow to set for a few minutes and then carefully remove from pan.
• Allow to cool a bit. Cut into wedges and serve. We enjoyed this as a breakfast with a cup of tea.

FARINATA GENOVESE (GENOVESE CHICKPEA FLATBREAD)

Steps:

• Place the flour and salt in a large bowl, then slowly whisk in the water until you have perfectly smooth, rather thin batter, similar to a crepe batter. Let the batter rest for at least three hours or (better) overnight. When you are ready to make your farinata, mix in the oil.
• Now pour the batter into a greased baking sheet. It should just cover the bottom by no more than 2 or 3 cm (1/2 inch) at most, thinner if you like. Sprinkle one of more of the optional flavorings, if you like.
• Bake the batter in a hot oven (200C/400F) for about 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Cut into serving pieces and serve hot.

FARINATA GENOVESE

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together chickpea flour and salt.
• Place water in another large mixing bowl.
• Slowly incorporate chickpea flour mixture into water with whisk. The final batter should have the consistency of heavy cream.
• Stir in rosemary leaves.
• Let the batter sit at room temperature, covered, for at least 4 hours or overnight.
• When ready to bake, first skim the scum off of the top of the batter with a large spoon.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Grease a cookie sheet with olive oil. Then cover with parchment paper and grease the paper too. Be sure to grease up the sides of the pan too, trust me on this!
• Remove the rosemary if you like. Stir in the olive oil. Note: If you use 1/2 cup, this is actually 1/2 the amount of the traditional recipe, and it was too oily for me! So depending on how oily you'd like to make it, use anywhere between 1/3 and 1/2 cup.
• Carefully pour into prepared cookie sheet.
• Sprinkle with freshly-ground black pepper.
• Carefully place in oven, ensuring pan is perfectly flat.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the edges start to pull away from the cookie sheet, and the top is bubbly and slightly browned.
• Slice and eat immediately. Good hot or at room temperature. However, it lasts up to 10 days in the fridge, just needs to be reheated.
• Notes: You can also use the slices as a base for pizza or flatbreads. Enjoy!

HOW TO MAKE FARINATA

Steps:

• Combine garbanzo flour and water in a bowl; whisk until batter is smooth. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or a plate and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours. Skim as much foam as possible from top of batter. Whisk salt, rosemary, and 3 tablespoons olive oil into batter.
• Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C).
• Place a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over high heat and heat until smoking hot. Pour 2 tablespoons olive oil in skillet and swirl to coat bottom of skillet with oil. Continue to heat until oil shimmers and a wisp of smoke rises from oil.
• Quickly pour batter into hot oil; carefully transfer skillet to preheated oven.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cake is browned and crusty, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer immediately to a plate, cut into wedges, and serve hot. Garnish with freshly ground black pepper.

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.