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    Home » Snacks » Chickpea Farinata (Socca) with Rosemary & Black Olives

    Chickpea Farinata (Socca) with Rosemary & Black Olives

    Published: Jul 8, 2022 · Modified: Jul 26, 2023 by Jacqueline Meldrum · 28 Comments

    Vegan chickpea farinata is a savoury pancake flatbread made with chickpea (gram) flour. It's fabulous served with hummus & salad for lunch.

    Easy chickpea savoury socca

    A simple recipe with lots of flavour.

    Once you try it, it will soon become a regular lunchtime treat.

    Jump to:
    • 🥘 What is farinata?
    • 💭 Chickpea flour
    • 🥣 How easy is it to make?
    • 💭 Gluten-free flatbread
    • 🌡️ Can farinata be baked in an air fryer?
    • ⭐ Feel Good
    • 📋 Vegan recipes in the cookbook
    • 📖 Cookbook details
    • 🧾 Socca toppings
    • 👩🏻‍🍳 Variations
    • 🥙 Serving chickpea flatbreads
    • 💭 Top tip
    • 🥗 More vegan lunch ideas
    • 🥦 Living on the Veg
    • Hit the heart
    • 📖 Recipe
    • Comments

    🥘 What is farinata?

    Farinata is a savoury pancake-style flatbread. It's easy to make and is unleavened so no raising agents or yeast.

    It's also called socca, torta di ceci, and cecina.

    A traditional recipe from Genoa, in the north-west of Italy in the Liguria region.

    You can also find it in Gibraltar, an island on the south coast of Spain, where it is called calentita.

    💭 Chickpea flour

    The main ingredient in this chickpea pancake is chickpea fllour.

    If you are looking for it and struggling to find it, it is also called gram flour, garbanzo flour or besan.

    Chickpea Farinata is made from dried chickpeas which are ground to make flour.

    It contains all the nutrients of chickpeas.

    A good source of protein and iron and high in folate, manganese and magnesium.

    🥣 How easy is it to make?

    Super easy to make.

    The mixture is made up in a jug, just like when you make pancakes.

    Then it's poured into an oiled tray that's been heated, the toppings are added and it's baked in the oven.

    Simples!

    Also, try this quick garlic pizza bread.

    💭 Gluten-free flatbread

    This easy chickpea flour flatbread is naturally gluten-free.

    Vegan chickpea frinata with rosemary

    Chickpeas are gluten-free of course and none of the other ingredients include gluten.

    🌡️ Can farinata be baked in an air fryer?

    Yep, you could definitely use an air fryer to bake chickpea farinata.

    Inside of Tower Xpress Pro Vortx 5-in-1 Digital Air Fryer Oven

    You will have to do it in 2 or 3 batches, in baking trays.

    I like to use brownie tins (20cm x 20 cm / 8 inch x 8 inch approx) which fit nicely in my air fryer, but do measure your own for the correct measurements.

    If you have an air fryer with shelves like mine (love it!), you could bake in 2 to 3 tins at the same time.

    Just remember to rotate them, as the top one always cooks quicker.

    They will also be ready up to 10 minutes quicker in the air fryer.

    ⭐ Feel Good

    This fabulous recipe comes from Feel Good cookbook by Melissa Hemsley.

    Feel Good By Melissa Hemsley

    Not a vegan cookbook, but plenty of vegan recipes in there or recipes that can be easily tweaked as we are so used to doing.

    This cookbook is all about easy food that will make you feel good.

    The photos are full-page and glorious.

    Don't you hate a cookbook with not enough photos or those with no photos whatsoever?

    I want to drool over the photos. I want them to tempt me.

    And they did.

    You can see my full review along with an easy chocolate mousse made with dates, which is also in the book.

    Disclosure: I was sent this cookbook to review and given permission to share the recipe and photos.

    📋 Vegan recipes in the cookbook

    Penty of vegan recipes and many where you can just make a straight swap to vegan cheese or butter.

    • Vegan recipes = 32 recipes
    • Simple swaps to make it a vegan recipe = 33 recipes
    • Unsuitable recipes = 35 recipes
    • Total recipes = 100

    There's also a page of swaps and tips for vegan versions of recipes.

    📖 Cookbook details

    Here's what you need to know if you fancy picking up a copy of this book.

    • Title: Feel Good
    • Author: Melissa Hemsley
    • Imprint: Ebury Press
    • Published: 19/05/2022
    • ISBN: 9781529109818
    • Length: 256 Pages
    • Dimensions: 252mm x 25mm x 197mm (Hardback)
    • RRP: £22.00

    ⭐ Credits

    Farinata Photography by Lizzie Mayson. Recipe extracted from Feel Good by Melissa Hemsley (Ebury Press £22)

    🧾 Socca toppings

    You can go crazy when topping chickpea socca, but for this recipe, it was simply black olives, red onion and rosemary.

    socca toppings - black olives, red onions and rosemary
    • Olive - you could add green olives instead or skip them if you really don't like them.
    • Red onion - you could use white onion instead
    • Rosemary - I use fresh, but you could use dried.

    Printable recipe card below with the full ingredients.

    👩🏻‍🍳 Variations

    Here are a few ideas of other toppings you could add for a totally different flatbread.

    1. Leeks - leeks, crushed mustard seeds and vegan feta to serve (not bake as it will melt).
    2. Sundried Tomatoes - sundried tomatoes (pat to remove excess oil), red onion, jalapeno slices and fresh basil to serve.
    3. Artichoke - jarred artichoke (pat to remove liquid or oil), red onion, garlic and fresh coriander to serve.
    4. Garlic - crushed garlic, parsley and salt

    🥙 Serving chickpea flatbreads

    Here are a few ideas for serving these delicious crepe-style flatbreads.

    Just remember it's best served warm.

    • Soup - serve with freshly made soup
    • Hummus - serve with hummus and salad
    • Pasta - serve alongside pasta instead of garlic bread, with a green salad
    • Dip - with a tasty dip for a snack, try this creamy vegan sriracha dip

    💭 Top tip

    Make this flatbread fresh.

    It's best served warm and fresh.

    Luckily it's easy and fairly quick to make.

    🥗 More vegan lunch ideas

    Here are a few more simple vegan lunch recipes for you to try.

    • Green Power Lunch Wrap
    • Ploughman's Lunch
    • Quick Air Fryer Garlic Bread
    • Sriracha Chickpea & Avocado Wraps
    • Tofu Grinder Salad Sandwich

    Check out my recipe index for more sweet and savoury lunch and lunchbox ideas.

    🥦 Living on the Veg

    Once you've signed up for my newsletter (box above) and followed me on social media, why not join my Facebook group Living on the Veg?

    Such a friendly community with lots of recipes and chat. I'm in there every day chatting. It's such a nice place to spend time.

    Hit the heart

    You might have seen a wee heart appearing if you've been here in The Vegan Lunchbox this week when you look at recipes.

    Hit it to let me know you like the recipe and if you hit the atom symbol beside it, you can save your favourite recipes in one place or share them on Twitter or Facebook.

    📖 Recipe

    Vegan chickpea frinata with rosemary

    Chickpea Farinata (Socca) with Rosemary & Black Olives

    Jacqueline Meldrum
    Vegan chickpea farinata is a savoury pancake flatbread made with chickpea (gram) flour. It's fabulous served with hummus & salad for lunch. This is a gluten-free snack.
    5 from 12 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Saved!
    Prep Time 15 minutes mins
    Cook Time 20 minutes mins
    Total Time 35 minutes mins
    Course Easy Vegan Snacks
    Cuisine Italian, vegan
    Servings 8 slices
    Calories 170 kcal

    Ingredients
     
     

    • 150 g chickpea flour
    • 5 tablespoons olive oil
    • 1 ¼ teaspoons sea salt
    • 1 red onion ( finely sliced)
    • 20 black olives (pitted and halved)
    • 6 sprigs rosemary
    Get Recipe Ingredients

    Instructions
     

    • Place the flour in a large mixing bowl or jug and pour in 300ml (1 ¼ cups) water, whisking as you add it.
    • Preheat the oven to it's highest temperature.
    • Grease the base and sides of a large baking tray (30cm x 22 cm/12 inches x 9 inches) or two smaller trays with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and place in the oven to heat.
    • Whisk the remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil into the batter with the salt and a good grinding of black pepper.
    • Carefully remove the hot tray (or trays) from the oven and pour in the batter.
    • Top evenly with the onion, rosemary and olives, then bake for 30 minutes until deep golden and crisp on top. Check it after 20 minutes and if it's getting too dark, turn the oven down to 220c/200c/425f/gas mark 7 for another few minutes.
    • Leave it to cool in the tin for 10-15 minutes before slicing and serving with an extra sprinkle of salt.
    • Enjoy!

    Notes

    • Chickpea flour - also called besan, gram flour or gazbanzo flour
    • Olives - don't like them, leave them out.
    • Trays - you can use more than one tray if you don't have a big enough tray.
    • Air fryer - you can bake these in an air fryer (if you have trays that fit), it will bake up to 10 minutes quicker (remember the top of the oven bakes quicker)
    • Fresh - serve it freshly made and warm
    • Gluten-free - this flatbread is gluten-free

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1 servingCalories: 170kcalCarbohydrates: 13gProtein: 4gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gSodium: 532mgPotassium: 184mgFiber: 3gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 50IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 18mgIron: 1mg
    Keyword back to school snack, farinata, flatbread, gluten-free, pancakes, savoury pancakes
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

    More Easy Vegan Snacks

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      Best Date & Tahini Brownie Balls (no-bake bites)
    • Vegan Biscoff and Chocolate Fudge made with Condensed Milk.
      Easy Vegan Biscoff and Chocolate Fudge Recipe
    • Vegan Chocolate Chickpea Truffles (Protein Snack) in a tub.
      Vegan Chocolate Chickpea Truffles (Protein Snack)
    • quick and easy microwave jam flapjacks.
      Microwave Jam Flapjacks - Quick and Easy Recipe

    Comments

    1. Marybelle says

      July 08, 2022 at 6:22 pm

      5 stars
      Making this tomorrow. I have gram flour leftover from making onion bhajis. Can't wait and that book looks good too.

      Reply
      • Jacqueline Meldrum says

        July 08, 2022 at 6:27 pm

        Oh perfect and yes it's a good book!

        Reply
        • Hilary says

          July 09, 2022 at 7:54 am

          5 stars
          Wow thank you as this looks really good.

          Reply
          • Jacqueline Meldrum says

            July 09, 2022 at 9:05 am

            Super easy to make for an easy flatbread to serve with lunch or as a snack.

            Reply
            • Gemma says

              March 22, 2025 at 7:06 pm

              I've searched high and low for gram flour today to no avail. Can normal bread flour be substituted?

            • Jacqueline Meldrum says

              March 26, 2025 at 7:13 pm

              Unfortunately no, it's also called chickpea flour if that helps. It's usually in the world aisle of the supermarket.

    2. Sam Burton says

      July 08, 2022 at 6:24 pm

      5 stars
      Just got your email. So excited to try this. Sounds easy too.

      Reply
      • Jacqueline Meldrum says

        July 08, 2022 at 6:27 pm

        Oh good, glad you got it. Enjoy the farinata.

        Reply
    3. Chrissie says

      July 08, 2022 at 6:25 pm

      5 stars
      Even the other half could make this one. Gonna leave the recipe lying about an see if he takes the hint 😂

      Reply
      • Jacqueline Meldrum says

        July 08, 2022 at 6:26 pm

        Haha good luck, you may need to actually leave heavy hints too. Mind you my husband doesn't mind making pancakes and it's a similar batter.

        Reply
    4. Jacqueline Debono says

      July 09, 2022 at 8:53 am

      5 stars
      I love farinata! Here in Italy you can also find it in Tuscany, Sardinia, Puglia and Piemonte although in some places they give it a different name. I've been wanting to make it myself for a while. So am going to try this recipe.

      Reply
      • Jacqueline Meldrum says

        July 09, 2022 at 9:04 am

        I bet they all have their own style of serving it too. So good.

        Reply
    5. Sisley White - Sew White says

      July 09, 2022 at 12:58 pm

      5 stars
      The red onion really makes this delicious. I love the flavours so much.

      Reply
      • Jacqueline Meldrum says

        July 13, 2022 at 11:50 am

        Yes they are such a good combination of flavours. So, so good.

        Reply
    6. Amy Nash says

      July 09, 2022 at 1:03 pm

      5 stars
      Loved this recipe! I had a partial bag of chickpea flour and was looking for a way to use some of it up and this hit the spot. Easy, flavorful, and delicious!

      Reply
      • Jacqueline Meldrum says

        July 13, 2022 at 11:49 am

        Well that was excellent timing then. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

        Reply
    7. Michelle says

      July 09, 2022 at 1:24 pm

      5 stars
      I happen to have chickpea flour so I can't wait to try this recipe! Love how you've studded it with black olives!

      Reply
      • Jacqueline Meldrum says

        July 13, 2022 at 11:49 am

        Oh yes black olives are a must in my opinion. Mmmm!

        Reply
    8. April says

      July 09, 2022 at 1:33 pm

      5 stars
      Making this tonight to go alongside homemade roasted tomato bisque. Can't wait to try it! Thanks for the recipe.

      Reply
      • Jacqueline Meldrum says

        July 13, 2022 at 11:48 am

        Oh yes nice idea. I bet it pairs really well. Enjoy it!

        Reply
    9. Mark says

      September 13, 2022 at 1:42 pm

      Thanks for your blog, nice to read. Do not stop.

      Reply
      • Jacqueline Meldrum says

        September 16, 2022 at 8:23 pm

        Awww thanks, that is so kind Mark. I definitely won't stop sharing recipes. I started my original blog tinnedtomatoes.com in 2007, so I am a bit hooked.

        Reply
    10. Janet says

      October 17, 2022 at 1:27 pm

      5 stars
      This is delicious, by far the tastiest way I've eaten chickpea flour. I made it as recipe the first time, but half measures as there's only me. Today I made it with 1tbsp besan,1 tbsp oil, mixed olives, oregano, spring onion and cooked it in the air fryer. Paired it with your broccoli and pea soup, totally yummy 😋

      Reply
      • Jacqueline Meldrum says

        October 28, 2022 at 11:05 am

        Nice idea to reduce it to what you need and nice flavours.

        Reply
    11. Janet says

      October 21, 2022 at 10:39 am

      5 stars
      This is delicious, only me so reduced all quantities and cooked in air fryer. Served with your broccoli and pea soup, totally yummy.

      Reply
      • Jacqueline Meldrum says

        October 28, 2022 at 11:03 am

        I am so glad you enjoyed it Janet and thanks for leaving a lovely comment.

        Reply
    12. Janet says

      March 01, 2024 at 7:28 am

      5 stars
      I serve this both with 'picky bits' or with soup and it's equally delicious with either. Easy to make too 😄

      Reply
      • Jacqueline Meldrum says

        March 03, 2024 at 10:21 am

        I am so glad you enjoyed it Janet and yes you're right, it's good served with soup or picky bits.

        Reply

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    JACQUELINE MELDRUM

    Welcome to The Vegan Lunchbox.

    If you need tasty lunch inspiration, you've come to the right place. Easy recipes and ideas from my Scottish kitchen. Jac x

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