Chickpea flour and water are the base for a lot of delicious things. This is one of them.
sage farinata
with rosemary & quick-confited garlic
makes 6-8 servings
Making this dish is fairly simple and straightforward, however: spontaneous, it is not. You’ll want to plan ahead for this one, as the chickpea batter needs to rest for at least three hours before cooking. My recommendation: prepare the batter the night before or the morning of, and next thing you know you’ll be well on your way to enjoying an exquisite lunch or dinner.
ingredients
• a 30cm round pie tin
• 150g chickpea flour (AKA gram flour)
• 500ml (500g) water
• 50ml (approx. 45g) extra virgin olive oil
• 5g sea salt
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 4 large sage leaves + a bunch of little ones
• 2 small sprig tips of rosemary
• black pepper, freshly cracked
• optional: a small pat of butter + a spoonful or two of flour
preparation
1. Weigh out 150g of chickpea flour into a large bowl. Tare the weight, then add 5g of sea salt. Tare once more, then whisk in 500g of water. Cover the bowl with a dish bowl or using a plate as a lid, then leave to rest at room temperature for at least 3 hours, ideally 6, and up to 12.
2. Preheat your oven to its highest temperature, or at least 220°C/430°F (you can leave a sheet tray in the middle part of the oven, and later transfer the pie tin directly onto it).
3. While the oven preheats, lightly crush then peel 6 cloves of garlic. Add 50g (approx. 45g) of extra virgin olive oil to a small frying pan, then add in the peeled garlic cloves, and fry them, flipping once, on medium-high heat for a few minutes until the oil is fragrant and the garlic has turned golden on both sides. Remove the garlic cloves from the oil and cut each one across its width into slices — it should be soft and mellow on the inside, basically like a quick confit!
4. To guarantee that the farinata won’t stick to the pie pan, you can grease the tin with butter then sprinkle over some flour, discarding the excess as much as possible. This isn’t quite traditional, but it does give you peace of mind about being able to easily remove your cooked farinata from its pan. If doing this, you’ll want to then pour the garlic-infused oil directly into the chickpea batter and whisk well.
Alternatively, if not using the butter and flour, pour the garlic-infused oil first into the pan, turning it around so the oil slicks every part of its surface, then pour it back out into the prepared chickpea batter. Whisk well.
5. Pour the chickpea batter into the prepared tin, and decorate the top with the garnishes: whole sage leaves, rosemary leaves, and the sliced quick-confited garlic (take care to place the garlic around the sage and not on top of it, so as to let it sink and avoid it burning during the bake).
6. Transfer the pie pan into the oven (either directly onto the middle rack, or onto the sheet tray), then bake for 23-27 minutes, until the batter has set and the top has browned.
7. Slice piping hot using a rubber spatula, and enjoy right away with lots of black pepper freshly cracked on top.
note: the timing of the bake will depend on your oven and also the thickness of the chickpea batter, so you’ll want to keep an eye on your farinata and use the timings above more as a guideline than a rule!
For video and more details, see the post below!
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