Socca with piment d’Espelette, peppers and anchovies

Photograph: Harry Weir
Photograph: Harry Weir
Serves: 6
Course: Starter
Cooking Time: 0 hr 40 mins

Ingredients

  • 100ml olive oil
  • 2 red peppers, deseeded and thinly sliced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
  • A sprig of rosemary
  • Juice of 1 small orange
  • Salt and pepper
  • 250g chickpea flour
  • 500ml water
  • 1tsp piment d’espelette
  • 200g crème fraîche
  • As many anchovies as you like

1 Set the oven to 220 degrees

2 Put half the olive oil into a pan with the peppers, garlic and rosemary.

3 Cover and cook over a gentle heat for 15 minutes until soft. Add the orange juice, allow to reduce, season and set aside.

4 In a large bowl, combine the chickpea flour, water and piment d’Espelette, season generously and stir to blend.

5 Take a non-stick 12in pizza pan (a non-stick oven-proof frying pan will do). Brush with some of the remaining olive oil and put in the oven until the oil starts to sizzle, then pour a quarter of the batter mixture inside.

6 Bake for four to five minutes until the batter is set and a little brown around the edges. Keep the pancake warm and repeat the procedure for the rest of the batter.

7 To serve, cut the pancakes into slices, then serve with the peppers, a dollop of crème fraîche and a few anchovies.

Paul Flynn

Paul Flynn

Paul Flynn is a chef, restaurateur and contributor to The Irish Times. He and his wife, Máire, run the Tannery restaurant and cookery school in Dungarvan, Co Waterford