
Farinata is one of those things that almost no one has heard of, or tasted, yet it is so simple and delicious that no one seems to be able to explain why. I’d been meaning to try it for well over a year, but for some reason never got round to it. This process of forgetfulness seems to repeat itself and in the wake of my blog is a perpetual trail of dead and forgotten ideas. Indeed, had it not been for the fact that Shira, of in pursuit of more, posted her own recipe for farinata a week or so ago, this probably would have been accidentally consigned to the archives of my mind. Thank goodness that wasn’t the case; as I’ve already mentioned, farinata is exceptionally flavoursome and FrugalFeeding really couldn’t do without it! Thanks, Shira!
Farinata is essentially a cross between flat bread and a thick pancake. To make it, all one need do is mix gram (chickpea) flour with water and whatever additional flavourings one desires, before baking it in the oven until golden brown. It can then be cut up and served as a side dish, or as a starter before a main meal. There isn’t much more to it than that, except that it does a great job of highlighting just how interesting and versatile gram flour can be. Indeed, it is a food, a facial exfoliant and can be used as a substitute for egg. Not only this, but because it is composed entirely of chickpeas it contains no gluten. Perhaps some experimentation is order to assess whether it would be suitable for cake making – I doubt it.

You may have noticed that I’ve not been blogging quite as much of late. This isn’t because I’m becoming bored of the whole food thing… far from it – my life is simply going through a spot of change. Once things have settled down a little I shall explain exactly what’s been going on – it’s very exciting, I promise. But for now, you’ll have to content yourself with these little slices of legume heaven. Enjoy!
Rosemary & Garlic Farinata
Serves 4-8
Ingredients:
• 200g gram flour, sieved
• 650ml warm water
• 2 tbsp rosemary, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, mashed and finely chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• A generous pinch of salt
• A substantial twist of black pepper
Method:
1. Whisk the water into the gram flour, leave no lumps. Tip in the garlic and rosemary, season and leave to stand for 30 minutes to an hour.
2. Heat the oven to 220C and pour the olive oil into a large earthenware casserole dish. Heat the oil up until smoking and pour the batter in. Pop immediately back in the oven and bake until golden brown – this should take 40-50 minutes.
3. Serve with salad and chutney, as a side dish or a replacement for bread.

Cost: Gram flour is extremely inexpensive and since rosemary is easily found on local bushes, this recipe is exceptionally cost effective. Indeed, the entire batch of farinata should set one back no more than around 70p – that’s a great price, even for a side.
121 replies on “Rosemary & Garlic Farinata”
That sounds really interesting. I’m going to try it. Thanks!
Thanks! I know you’ll love it – it’s very frugal.
i’m not suggesting that this recipe should be used as a last resort, but i love knowing that, despite an empty fridge and uninspiring pantry, i could make a great meal out of little more than chickpea flour and water! well done.
Exactly, it’s all about being frugal :D. Thanks.
Looks delicious! And it could be a great way to use some of the gram flour I have in my pantry…
Thanks! Yes, it isn’t used for loads of dishes, so this is a great way.
Looks delicious! Farinata is definitely something I don’t make often enough. Love your version of Rosemary and Garlic. Can’t wait to hear about your exciting news Frugal 🙂
Ah, you’ve heard of it? Great! :D. Thanks, Karista. It’s exciting for me, at least.
Ah yes, chickpeas are widely used where I live, mostly due to a large vegetarian and vegan population. They can be quite tasty, or not. However, yours look delicious!
I use them loads – they are indispensable and cheap!
Legume heaven indeed! And of course I have chickpea flour to make it! Woohoo! We both mention Shira in our posts today 🙂 Isn’t she lovely?!
You guys! I love you both! Too wonderful when all of our bloggy worlds collide together like this! Can’t help but feel (just a little) special today 🙂 Thanks to both of you, who I, of course, adore. Great take on chickpea flatbread Nick – I like that you leave it to sit, I imagine that helps all of the flavors to meld a little?
Haha – thanks, Shira :D. You are special, of course. Yes the flavours infuse and it allows the water to properly soak up all the flour and give it a great texture,
🙂 🙂 🙂 This is what makes blogging so much fun! xoxo
You are quite right 😀
Oh yes, Somer! I know you’ll love this! Haha – she is 😀
My friend Erika has all ready made both of your recipes! We had a phone conversation about it yesterday! Funny 🙂
Oh blimey! Haha – I’m being talked about!
It was in a good way! I promise!
Ah, here it was. I know 😀
Very interesting, it looked like polenta but if it’s made from gram flour then I’m sure that it’ll taste more like falafel, intriguing. 🙂
Hmm, it doesn’t taste very much like falafel, but I suppose it’s akin to polenta, but it has a much softer texture.
I thought it looked like polenta too, but it seems a great deal easier. I’ve never been sure what to do with gram flour, so now I know, thanks.
Oh yes, very simple indeed. I do hope you enjoy it.
This looks fantastic. I love having more recipes to serve my gluten free friends!
Thanks! Yes, me too and it’s good to be natural rather than making something that shouldn’t be gluten free, gluten free.
Farinata!! Wow!! Thick and beautiful!
Thanks, Villy! It is so nice 🙂
I’m going to have to try this! It looks so good.
Thanks, Kirsten! I hope you like it.
Gram flour is now on the shopping list. That reads and looks excellent.
Best,
Conor
Thanks, Conor! I hope you like this, in fact I know you will.
I was very curious to know what Farinata was… always fun to learn new words. Good luck with what ever you´re up to!
It is indeed, it’s one of the reasons I love blogging! Thanks!
I came across a bag of chickpea flour in the fridge yesterday and was wondering what to do with it! Now I know! PS. I doubt I’d use it as a facial scrub though. 🙂
In the fridge?! How strange… Any reason for it being in the fridge (perhaps I’m ignorant!) No, don’t use it as a facial scrub…
I keep all my grains and flours in the fridge, to stop weevils. It’s a problem related to hot summer weather, so maybe not a huge issue in the UK?
Ah – yes we don’t have that problem. Very clever.
I wonder where I can find chickpea flour.
umm… I don’t know anything about where you live… a health food shop?
In a shop that sells Indian food. It might be labelled besan.
You’re quite right!
Yums! I can see this being very kid friendly or a good school lunch!
Yes, it’s really good the next day and cold!
Never heard of it, but definitely trying it! And great photos by the way 🙂
Thanks! I hope you do, it would be a good idea 😀
I’ve never heard of this either! Looks interesting though, I’d love to give it a try!
I hope you do – it has so much flavour.
This sounds so interesting; I’ll have to try it to satisfy my curiosity!
Oh you must! It is very, very easy.
You could also try making panisse frites which is basically cooking chickpea flour and water into a thick polenta-like batter and then pour into a square pan. Once cool, cut into mini-bricks and fry (breading is optional). Less healthy than farinata but oh so good. Frances here in San Francisco has the best version ever.
That sounds good, I’ll looks into it – thanks 😀
You’re right that I’ve never heard of farinata–but it sounds like a lot of us are going to be learning more about it! I do like pretty much anything with rosemary, so that’s a promising start. 🙂
It’s quite a rare thing outside of Italy I think. Rosemary is definitely my favourite herb.
Fantastic shot of the rosemary and garlic! This post is making me hungry.
Thanks, Clarisse! It makes me hungry too 🙂
I hope they’ll not turn out to be as addictive as that other chick pea favourite, hummus. lol.
Haha – hummus is very addictive. They may, I’ve made it twice already.
Fancy seeing rosemary and garlic over here, too. Yum!
Hehe – it’s an awesome combination 😀
Thank you for “liking” my Post today over a my Blog “Healthy Stuff Reviews!” I really appreciate it…as I recently started blogging and I’m sincerely hoping to get more people over to my site.
http://healthystuffreviews.wordpress.com/
You seem like quite the cook and creative chef, in fact! Very beautiful pictures of your food, as well. Overall excellent blog, and I’m going to subscribe to daily posts here.
This recipe for “Rosemary & Garlic Farinata!” I had never heard of farinata before, and it sounds delicious and a wonderful texture of being a cross or “hybrid” between flat bread and a thick pancake. Yum!
P.S. Do you mind “sharing” with some of your readers something about my site to draw more people over there? I’d really appreciate it, if you could. Thank you!
~Amy 🙂
No problem! Thanks :). Farinata truly is wonderful, as is your comment :).
Wow – this bought back some memories for me. My god mother (from the north of Italy) used to make this and I haven´t eaten it for years – what a great recipe, thanks for sharing!
Oh that’s so cool :). You should make it – so simple.
Ever since trying my first slice of farinata on a little island off the coast of Sardigna (where the locals get to enjoy a daily dose of farinata thanks to their ancestors coming over from Genoa) I have been in love with these hearty little pancakes/flatbreads (so much so that I keep gram flour on hand now). Thanks for posting this recipe – it uses a lot more water than the recipe I have been using so I am curious to see how this affects the texture of the farinata.
All the best
Sophia
They are so yum! It makes them much easier to enjoy I find. Though, one might have to let them cool before they are easy to eat. However, I didn’t and they were delicious.
Looks excellent and I am sure very flavorful with rosemary and garlic! There is a very similar dish in Bosnia (and Balkan region) made either with feta cheese or potatoes.
Thanks, Sibella! Very flavourful indeed! I shall check it out!
Thanks for this recipe, as my 12 YO grand-daughter is on gluten-free diet. As is my daughters family.
PS thanks for the follow. 🙂
No problem! It’s more than suitable for them.
This just looks soooooooooooooooo good!!
Thanks, Lois!
Reblogged this on Friend's Pantry Blog and commented:
Looks good will have to try this one.
and here you go making another thing I’ve never had! clearly I need to expand my horizons a bit..this looks awesome.
Thanks! I’m glad I helped to expand them!
I had to keep reading just to find out what farinata is. I’ll give it a go and impress my vegetarian son with it soon. What I found even more fascinating was that the flour also acted as an exfoliant. Do please expand on that.
Haha – I’m sure he’ll like it. I guess you just mix it with water and apply it… Google will probably help!
I mean, I don’t want to make too much of a fool of myself rubbing flour on my face.
This sounds interesting and looks like something that could be very addictive. Looking forward to hearing about the exciting news!
Oh it is! So hard to stop eating.
Your farinata looks thicker than ones I’ve seen before but just as delicious. I need to make some soon – you’ve reminded me how much I love it!
Thanks, Kate! I like it a little thicker… feels nicer.
Never heard of farinata before but very interested in trying it. What kind of texture does it have? Chewy? Bread-like (like where you could pull it about)? From the picture it looks like it has a smooth, brownie-like texture where you could just cut it with a fork.
OH you must. No, not particularly chewy and not very bread like. It has a texture all of its own.
Yes, I must say your presence on my WP Reader was being missed.
Chickpea flour is great. Cakes are not a good idea but they are widely used in Indian and middle eastern cuisine. This recipe sounds and looks great!
I am sorry :(. I’m doing a bit of transitioning at the moment. I’ll be back in full force soon enough!
As you said, I never heard of this. Will def. try it asap 🙂 thank you for sharing. Btw I really like your recipes, gonna be trying a few soon.
Thanks! Yes, it’s only very rarely eaten.
Chickpeas are so versatile. I love falafel, and just about everything made of them. Never heard of this one, however, will have to try.
Indeed they are! Yes, give it a go… you won’t regret it.
Your are right…I had never heard of this dish. It seems very easy to prepare and sounds terrific.
Thanks, Karen. Yes, it was very simple – I’m sure you’d love it.
I will be giving it a try when we come back from our travels.
Fantastic – you’ll simply love it!
This looks so very good. I think I’ll make and eat with the last of my lucious summer tomatoes. A good way to use precious jewels of summer, I think. Thanks! Can hardly wait to hear your news.
Thanks so much :). Great idea!
I made this last night for dinner. It was fantastic(!!) next to our last tomato salad of the season. And congratulations on the move!
Amazing :D. I’m so glad you made it! Thanks, Bobbi!
This has been om my “to make” list for ages too! You’ve just moved it much nearer the top again, garlic & rosemary is one of my favourite combinations and it’s gluten-free! Have a great weekend!
I hope you like it when get round to it – I know you will. You too!
This looks great! Can’t wait to try making it!
Let me know what you think if you do!
Yummy, this look so nice, will have to give it a try!
Thanks! It was yummy.
Reblogged this on cadesertvoice.
I tried it tonight, it came out much thinner than yours (even though we didn´t use a large dish), the outside was nice and crispy, but inside very soft, more like a porridge or soft polenta 🙁 where did I go wrong? I followed the recipe exactly. But 200 g flour and 650 ml water made for a very liquid batter (I left it stand for several hours, but not much got absorbed).
Hmm. Experiment a little with the quantities, flour can react differently every time. It works well for me.
I am always on the look out for recipes that incorporate chick peas! Thanks for posting!
No problem – this is delicious!
I love discovering new recipes like this and I cannot wait to make some of my own. I am truly in awe of your blog – so glad you liked my post so I could stumble upon it 🙂
Thanks so much – I’m flattered 🙂
Really interesting recipe – looks good. We’ve used gram flour to make gluten-free savoury pancakes, and indeed a cake! The cake batter was very bitter (don’t lick your fingers) but after baking it did make a fair and interesting sponge, akin to a victoria sponge but with a certain je-ne-sais-quoi.
Thanks! Oh, I’ll have to try that! Great idea!
Pleased to see Farinata here, it is indeed an overlooked dish. I just made it for a potluck last week and it was gone in no time. I usually make it without garlic (in a cast-iron pan which I preheat in the oven) but I will try your recipe next time, I am sure it tastes even better! PS: Interestingly there is also an Italian soup with kale and polenta called Farinata.
Exactly! It’s so yummy. Is there? That’s very strange – I’ll have to look it up. Thanks for the heads up!
Lovely and so easy! Just doing a second batch now but decided to add sundried tomatoes, olives and feta cheese to it. Hopefully will taste good!
Oh wow, sounds yum!
I had no idea that gram flour could be used as a sub for egg. In terms of what? Does it bind?? I often use it as a sub for any ground nut ingredients due to the fiance having a stupid and inconsiderate allergy.
I believe so – I’ve never really used it explicitly as an egg substitute to be honest… I don’t think. I wouldn’t put it in cake…
This sounds delicious! Like a gluten-free focaccia… I’ll keep this recipe in mind. 🙂
Thank you – yes I guess it is a bit like that 😀