My first husband used to take me to stay with his family in the South of France and they introduced me to traditional socca. They would take me to a little bar in the port of Bandol and we would drink tumblers of rosé wine and eat slices of socca that had been cooked in a wood burning oven in the restaurant in the back. Later on in life, it was trendy on the New York foodie scene, usually served as fries or as a building block for something else.
Recently it was on my mind for some reason and I wanted to do something canapé-ish with it. Most people don't know about socca and I thought it would be an unusual holiday offering. I figured that a less bland version could be good, especially if I could manage to make the socca crispy and smoky without having to cook it over a fire.
I do not have a traditional waffle iron but instead a specialty cast iron pan with indentations for mini waffles. I thought that this would be perfect for this recipe but the batter stuck in the indentations and it was a bit of a mess. A girlfriend with a classic waffle iron tried to make these as waffles and, once she had greased the iron well, the end result was fantastic. I made blini with the remainder of my batter and L. and I scarfed them down. L. has asked for a repeat soon but would like smaller blini next time, topped with hummus and either pine nuts or pumpkin seeds. The kid knows what he wants; I was thinking smoked salmon.
Recipe
1 cup chickpea flour
1 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp Espelette pepper (if you don't have that then use 1/8 tsp chili powder and omit the cumin. It won't taste the same but you won't have to go to the added expense of purchasing an ingredient that you might not use as much as I do).
2 tsps za'atar (going under the same budgetary or sourcing issue premise as above, you could substitute thyme or oregano if needs be but, obviously, this recipe will then become a horse of a different color).
Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl. Let the batter rest at room temperature for a couple of hours. Mix well before using.
If making waffles: cook according to the instructions that come with your machine. Grease the waffle iron very well first or you will curse my name, not something that I need at this juncture in my life.
If making blini: grease a nonstick frying pan lightly and heat over medium heat. I used a tablespoon to measure out equal sized blini portions and cooked them for about 1 minute per side. You will know when it is time to flip the blini when the entire thing is covered in tiny bubbles.
The finished product is a little smoky from the cumin and spicy from the Espelette pepper. L.'s suggestion of a hummus topping for the blini is a good one. Some za'atar, lemon juice and finely chopped garlic mixed with some greek yogurt could be a good alternative to the hummus.
Adapted from a classic socca recipe, here.