Farinata, that deliciously rich Ligurian street food rarely made at home, is a thick pancake made with a thin mix of chick pea flour, quite a lot of olive oil and some sea salt, cooked in a pan in a very hot oven until it is gold and crusty.
Ingredients:
- 3 3/4 cups spring water
- 2 1/3 cups Italian chick peas flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- rosemary
- 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- pepper
Preparation:
Mix the water and the flour with a wooden spoon; make sure there are no lumps, add salt to taste, and mix again. Add the rosemary and let it sit for a while (one to three hours or even better overnight).
At this point add the olive oil. Remove the rosemary and pour in a 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.
Put it in a preheated oven at 190-200° C (375-400° F). Remove from the oven when one of the corners (or the edge) starts to appear dark. Sprinkle plenty of pepper and serve.
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.
Serves 10 people
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Photography by Boots in the Oven