Chickpea (garbanzo bean/gram) Flour Pizza!

I bought some chickpea flour last week and have been wondering what to use it for. Turns out you can use it for a lot of things! I came across this blog about it and i was glad i did as it gave me lots of ideas of what to use it for...

1. Chickpea flour is, simply, ground up chickpeas, or garbanzos.
2. In recipes you'll see it called besan or gram flour, ceci flour or chana flour.
3. A nutritional powerhouse, chickpea flour is high in protein, high in fiber, and high in iron. And it's gluten-free.
4. The Romans used chickpea flour to make a type of polenta.
5. Modern-day cooks use chickpea flour as a thickener, as a base for batters, or mixed with water as an egg substitute. You can even use it to make hummus.
6. It's easy to make your own chickpea flour. Rinse and drain dry chickpeas, and leave them out overnight to dry. The next day, grind them in small batches in a food processor. Pass each batch through a sieve, and return any large pieces to the processor with the next batch of chickpeas. Store in a jar with a tight-fitting lid, or in ziploc bags in the freezer. To maketoasted chickpea flour, rinse and drain dry chickpeas, and spread them on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast in a 400°F oven for 15-20 minutes, then process in small batches in a food processor.
7. If you can't find dry chickpeas or chickpea flour in your local supermarket, health food store or Indian grocery, substitute dried yellow split peas and process into flour the same way you'd treat chickpeas. Or use wheat flour; according to theBob's Red Mill site, 7/8 cup of chickpea flour replaces one cup of wheat flour in baking, and substitutes one-to-one when used for breading or as a thickener in sauces.
8. Store chickpea flour in the freezer; bring it to room temperature before you use it. Stored this way, it will keep for a year or more.
9. You'll want chickpea flour on hand when you get a craving for Parsi pakoras, chickpea crackers, pithale, crispy farinata with zucchini carpaccio salad, chickpea flour curry or chickpea, chocolate and cashew cookies.
10. And if you're a fan of Julia Child's early television shows, you surely remember her visit to the market in Nice, where she introduced America to socca, the most wonderful street snack ever -- made from chickpea flour.

Back to the recipe! 

75g cup chickpea flour
1/3 tsp. salt
236ml  water
1/2 tsp. finely chopped rosemary
3 Tbls.extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbls. chopped tomato
1 Tbls. finely chopped onion
3 Tbls. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper ( i used white)

Directions:

Called socca in Nice and farinata in Genoa, this workingman's morning snack is traditionally baked in brick ovens in pizza pans. This method calls for using a skillet on the stovetop, then moving the pizza to the broiler.
Preheat the broiler. Sift the chickpea flour with the salt into a medium bowl. Slowly add quarter of the water, whisking constantly to form a paste. Beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. Whisk in the remaining water and let the batter stand for 30 minutes

 then stir in rosemary.

Heat 1 Tbls. of the olive oil in a 12-inch nonstick ovenproof skillet. Stir the batter once, pour it into the skillet and drizzle the remaining 2 Tbls. of olive oil on top. Cook the pizza over moderately high heat until the bottom is golden and crisp and the top is almost set, 2 to 3 minutes. Burst any large air bubbles with the tip of a knife.

Sprinkle the tomato, onion, parmesan cheese and pepper over the top, then place the skillet under the broiler and cook until the pizza is golden and crisp, 4 to 5 minutes. Slide the pizza onto a work surface, cut into wedges and serve hot.

It was actually really tasty but it went a bit pear shaped. I don't think i used a big enough pan and some of the pizza wasn't cooked right. I would definitely want to make this dish again and tweak it some. I think it can be perfected! 

:)