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Rosemary & Garlic Farinata

Rosemary and Garlic Farinata Recipe

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.

Rosemary and Garlic Farinata Recipe

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.

Rosemary and Garlic Farinata Recipe

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”

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.

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?

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.

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. 🙂

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 🙂

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

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.

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.

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.

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 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).

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.

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.

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!

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.

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