Vegan Wild Garlic Pesto Socca
 
Prep time
Cook time
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This spring socca is topped with a fantastically fresh wild garlic pesto and grilled spears of asparagus and radishes. The perfect lunch to celebrate the best season!
Author:
Serves: 2
Ingredients
Pesto
  • 6 cups packed chopped wild garlic (200g), washed well and drained
  • ¾ cup pumpkin seeds
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • 3 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp salt
Socca
  • 1 cup chickpea flour
  • 1 cup water
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped rosemary
  • 2 tbsp olive oil (half each for the pan)
Vegetables
  • 10 radishes, sliced thinly
  • 10 spears of asparagus, fibrous stems chopped off
  • 1 cup watercress
  • ½ cup pumpkin seeds
Instructions
  1. First, make the pesto. Chop the leaves up (and the stems) into smaller pieces and place in your food processor with the rest of the ingredients. Process and push down with the tamper until a paste forms. I like a bit of texture in my pesto so I leave this a little rough. Chill in the fridge as you prep the rest of the dish. If you have the time, it is best to make this the day before.
  2. To make the socca, whisk together the chickpea flour, water, salt and rosemary into a smooth, lump-free batter. Let this sit for 20 min to let the flour hydrate. Meanwhile, grease a cast-iron pan (or any other oven-safe pan)*, and preheat your grill. When the batter is done resting, heat the greased pan over a high heat. When the pan is hot, pour in 1 tbsp of olive oil and swirl it around to coat the base of the pan. Pour in half of the soccer batter and soil to coat the base of the pan (careful, the pan is hot!) and immediately pop it under the grill to let it cook. It should take 8-10 minutes for the top to char slightly and for the soccer to become firm, but keep an eye on it. When it is ready, remove the socca and repeat the process with the remaining oil and batter to make another flatbread.
  3. As the batter is resting, or as the socca is cooking, lightly grill the asparagus spears and radish rounds on a grill pan.
  4. To assemble, top each socca with half the pesto, and distribute the grilled vegetables between them. Scatter fresh watercress and pumpkin seeds to garnish, as well as a few wild garlic blossoms, if you have them.
  5. This dish is always best eaten fresh, when the socca is hot and still ever so slightly custardy in the middle.
Notes
* If you do not have an oven-safe pan, use a cake pan. Grease it and preheat it in the oven at 200C. Remove it and add the oil and socca batter, then place under your preheated grill as you would with a cast iron pan.
Recipe by The Sasha Diaries at https://thesashadiaries.com/2018/05/22/vegan-wild-garlic-pesto-socca/