Jess Thompson’s “Savory Socca” Pizzelles

Ingredients

1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. chickpea flour (also sold as garbanzo bean flour)

1 cup warm water

2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1 large egg

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. salt

grated cheese for sprinkling optional

Directions

1. Whisk the flour, water, oil, egg, cumin, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside for at least 10 minutes, and up to 1 hour.

2. Preheat a pizzelle iron. When hot, add about 2 tablespoons of the batter per pizzelle round, and cook—30 to 40 seconds for soft crepes, or 2 minutes for crackers.

3. Serve immediately, and repeat with the remaining batter.

Tis’ the season to break out the pizzelle makers for the traditional holiday cookies served throughout the holidays. This year, put your pizzelle maker to double duty with Cookbook Author Jess Thomson’s delicious savory “socca” treats that will have your guests truly savoring the season!

“Visit the south of France, and you’ll meet socca, the hot, salty crepes served on street corners up and down the Mediterranean coast. Unlike their more well known cousins, socca are made with chickpea flour, olive oil, and cumin, so they’re intensely savory. At home they require a good crepe pan, a watchful eye, and a good broiler—unless you have a pizzelle maker,” says Thomson. Ladled into a pizzelle iron, an egg-enriched socca batter can be many things. Cooked quickly, it’s a crepe, perfect for folding around goat cheese and cranberry jam for a new twist on breakfast. Cooked a bit longer, they crisp into crackers, and become the perfect conversation starter at holiday parties—serve them with white bean dip, cheeses, or olive tapenade, or do as the French do, and serve them simply drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with good sea salt.