Roasted Cauliflower & Shallot Socca

Also known as farinata, this chickpea pizza-type thing was my favourite thing to eat on tour. I ate it in thin, crispy slices on the seaside in the Cinque Terre; battered and fried and stuffed into bread as a late night snack in Sicily; and straight out of a portable oven in a marche in the south of France. It can be comfort street food but it can also be a super-easy, crowd-pleasing party food or an entrée. It sounds kinda complex but it’s actually incredibly easy as soon as you’ve done it once, and it is 100 per cent worth it. This recipe makes a fairly substantial version of socca. If you want a thinner, crispier version just make this into two ‘pizzas’ or reduce by a third or a half. Also if you have a small cast iron pan, split the mixture into two. You can do this with the veg, without the veg, with other veg or herbs. Play around with it.

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Instructions

1.	Preheat oven to 200°C.
2.	Peel shallots and keep whole. Cut cauliflower into florets.
3.	Toss both in olive oil and salt and spread on a baking tray.
4.	Bake for 25–30 minutes until cauli is taking some colour and shallots are soft. Remove and set aside.
5.	Heat your oven to its hottest setting, likely 250°C, and allow it to heat while you make the batter.
6.	Add flour, salt, rosemary and pepper to a bowl.
7.	Slowly add the water whilst whisking to incorporate. Chickpea flour wants to clump so you have to do this a little carefully.
8.	Once combined, add the oil and mix well. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
9.	Place a cast iron pan (any ovenproof pan will work but cast iron is best) into the oven.
10.	Once the pan is smoking hot, carefully remove from the oven, coat liberally in the rest of your olive oil, pour in the batter and arrange your cauliflower and sliced shallots on top.
11.	Place back into the oven and cook for 10 minutes until you can see the edges going golden and the top is firm.
12.	If you’ve reduced the quantities this will be 6–8 minutes.
13.	Remove, sprinkle with extra sea salt and fresh rosemary.
14.	Serve hot as squares or pizza slices.