Cecina recipe

the result

During summer holidays in Pisa my wife an me booked a food tour. A local guide took us to some well chosen local restaurants for — you would have guessed it — traditional Tuscan food. At one place we got a very simple snack: Cecina. It’s made of only a few ingredients: chickpea (“ceci” in Italian), water, oil and spices. Since my sister is gluten intolerant, I wanted to try to reproduce this at home. Here’s my trial.

Tools & ingredients:

• round tray with a diameter of 25cm
• chickpea flour (160g)
• water (500ml)
• olive oil (5 tablespoons)
• salt (1 teaspoon)
• pepper and rosemary for topping

Steps to follow:

1. Mix flour and water to a smooth batter
2. Add salt and half of the olive oil
3. Let the batter rest for 2h
4. Heat oven to 270°C (more would probably be better)
5. Sprinkle the rest of the olive oil onto the tray
6. Put the empty tray with just the oil into the oven for 1 minute
7. Pour the batter onto the hot and oily tray
8. Bake for 25 minutes
9. Serve warm and sprinkled with pepper and rosemary

This recipe will produce rather thick cecine. If you want to close the gap to the Tuscan original, use a larger tray or less batter (bake only for 20min).