January Recipe – Socca Muffins :: Hudson-Mohawk Road Runners Club

January Recipe – Socca Muffins

by Anouk Booneman

Stuff tends to accumulate in my pantry. There are all sorts of miscellaneous odds and ends in there. Jars bought in foreign countries, flours that intrigued me, on sale items, a lot of spices, and so on. Every few weeks I will engage in pantry cooking, when I try to use up those odds and ends. It used to be easier to use those items when my son was still living at home, since teenage boys tend to be voracious eaters. He is home for the holidays though, so I reengaged in a round of pantry cooking. One of the packages that was nearing its expiration date was a bag of chickpea flour. I remember purchasing it on sale at Market 32. There is a section at the end of the first aisle with deals that I can’t resist. That’s how I ended up with several bags of chickpea flour. A few bags were used to practice making Socca.

Socca is chickpea flatbread popular in the South of France. It’s relatively easy to make socca, which is just a batter of chickpea flour and water. When done right, it’s delicious with a crispy exterior and a creamy interior. When not cooked right, it ends up dry and lingers for days on the kitchen counter, because nobody wants to eat it. With socca in mind I was scrolling through the Internet looking for something easy to make with my leftover flour when I came across a few recipes for mini chickpea frittatas. Those are really easy to make, and gluten free, grain free, egg free and high in fiber and protein. They freeze well, reheat well and are easy to take on the go.

The recipe is versatile. A lot of different vegetables can be used. Fresh herbs also work well. Chickpea flour is mixed with water to create a thick batter. The vegetables are mixed in. The cooking time should be adjusted to the size of the muffins. I used a mini muffin pan and bake my mini frittatas at 400 degrees for ten minutes. The exterior should be cooked but the interior should still be a little creamy. If using larger pans, adjust the amount of time. Liners can be used but not needed if they are oiled or nonstick.

Ingredients

For my mini frittatas I used the following vegetables and spices that I had available:

1 3/4 cups chickpea flour
2 1/4 cup water
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 cup sautéed white and red onion
1 cup sautéed bell peppers
1 teaspoon chives
1 jalapeno, finely diced
Handful of kale roughly chopped
1/2 cup vegan gouda cheese (I used the brand Gusta that I purchased in Montreal. Vegan cheeses are getting better and better. This brand melts really well. If you use vegan cheese, make sure to check the ingredients. Some brands are highly processed. So far my favorite American brand is Miyoko. It’s available at Market 32, the green grocer, or online.
Fresh cilantro

Directions

Preheat the oven at 400 degrees and then lower to 375 when cooking
Mix the batter, add the veggies and mix again. The batter should be a little thicker than a pancake batter.
Fill each of the 12 holes in the muffin tin. I like to use an ice cream scoop. For the small tins I used a small scoop.
My muffins were small, so I only baked them for ten minutes. I tried a few different batches with different temperatures and liked the 375 the best. If using larger muffin pans, increase the time to 20 to 25 minutes.
Let stand for a bit, then remove from the tins. If you let them cool completely the center will set.

Leftovers can be frozen and reheated in foster oven or microwave.

Enjoy!

Anouk Booneman is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and specializes in plant based food. She and Danielle Maslowsky offer Spring Into Health workshops where she and Danielle teach plant based cooking. Anouk will also provide private lessons.

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