Chickpea cake (Torta di ceci)
“To make cecina, or torta di ceci, you’ll need to replicate a pizza oven environment – heat your oven to the hottest it goes and use the lowest shelf so your cecina gets a blast of heat from the bottom. I use a special cecina pan for this, which looks like a large pizza tray, but is heavy-bottomed and made of copper. Cecina is usually served warm with freshly ground black pepper and extra virgin olive oil, and eaten as a snack. Or turn this into the port city Livorno’s favourite ‘cinque e cinque’ (‘five and five’) snack, where it’s sandwiched in a nice crusty baguette or soft focaccia roll and washed down with a Spuma Bionda. Ginger beer could be a good substitute.” You’ll need a 32cm-round, 2.5cm-deep, raised-edged pizza tray.
Ingredients (2)
- 200g chickpea flflour
- 1/4 cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil, plus extra, to serve
Don't forget you can add these ingredients to your Woolworths shopping list.
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1.Place the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Slowly whisk in 600ml water, to avoid creating lumps in the batter. When perfectly smooth, whisk in 2 tbs oil and a large pinch of salt flakes. Rest, covered with a tea towel, for 30 minutes so the flour fully rehydrates (mixture will still be very runny).
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2.Preheat oven to 250°C/230°C fan-forced. Grease base and side of a 32cm-round, 2.5cm-deep, raised-edged pizza tray wit the remaining 1 tbs oil. To avoid spills, put the pan directly into the oven first, as the batter is very liquid and will be difficult to move. Whisk the batter once more, then pour directly into the pan on oven shelf. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden, bubbly and crisp around the edges. It should be very creamy inside and rather flaky on top. Cool in pan on a wire rack.
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3.Cut into wedges like a pizza. Serve warm, seasoned with salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper and drizzled with extra oil.
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