Pizza for Pitchy (Pizza with a chickpea flour base)

As my wife Pitchy has allergies to regular flour but loves pizza, I have been researching for suitable recipes. This recipe is the culmination of a year’s research. It uses a socca base. Socca is a pancake made from chickpea flour which is very popular in the Provence region of the south of France. The topping is fairly authentic Italian vegetarian.

This recipe takes a bit of practice but once you get it right, you can make delicious, healthy low-carb pizzas quicker than it takes to walk to the take-away.

 

Ingredients (makes 2 pizzas)

Sauce

2 large garlic cloves crushed

Olive oil

2 cups of tomato pulp (pasata)

I tsp Oregano

1 pinch salt

Dash of red wine (optional)

A few drops of hot pepper sauce (optional)

Base

2 cups chick pea flour

Pinch of salt

Ground black pepper

1 tsp baking soda

Water

Topping

2 bell peppers (different colours)

2 small onions

4 large mushrooms

2 tsp capers (drained)

125g Mozzarella

Handful of leaves (either basil or rocket)

Method

 1.    Roughly chop the onions, peppers and mushrooms and cook on a grill pan. Brush with olive oil and turn occasionally until starting to soften. Then leave to cool and cut into bite-size pieces.

2.    Finely chop the mozzarella.

3.    Fry the garlic in a little olive oil. When starting to turn golden, add the tomato pulp, oregano, salt and optional ingredients. Cook slowly to reduce to a thick sauce (if it is too watery, the base will go soggy)

4.    Mix the chickpea flour, baking soda and seasoning in a bowl and slowly add water. Mix to a very stiff paste then slowly add more water until you get the texture of full cream milk (this should avoid getting lumps). Let rest for 10 minutes.

5.    Using a large frying pan or pancake pan, add olive oil and then enough flour mixture to fully cover the base. Cook until starting to brown on the underside, then flip using a large plate. Once cooked, remove to a plate and repeat for the second pizza base.

6.    Place a pizza base on a baking tray and smother with the tomato sauce. Add the toppings and cook under a hot grill for 2-3 minutes.

7.    Once the cheese is melting, remove from the grill, place on a plate and top with leaves and a dash of olive oil.

8.    Repeat for the second pizza.

 

Notes

You can, of course, experiment with other toppings such as anchovies, olives, smoked salmon, artichokes, etc.