Socca: Crispy Niçoise Chickpea Pancake vs Farinata di Ceci (Chickpea Flatbread)

Both dishes turn the same simple batter of chickpea flour, water, olive oil and salt into a crisp-edged flatbread, yet they take it in different directions. Socca is poured paper-thin into a smoking-hot oiled pan and baked for just 8-12 minutes, giving blistered, slightly charred edges around a tender interior, finished with a generous shower of freshly ground black pepper. Farinata uses a looser, more watery batter and more olive oil, bakes for 30-40 minutes until deeply golden, and carries its pepper, plus optional chopped rosemary, inside the batter itself.