Chickpea Flour Pizza with Pesto

Blogging Marathon# 66: Week 2/ Day 2 Theme: Pizza Dish: Chickpea flour Pizza with Pesto After yesterday's Instant pizza recipe, I have another instant pizza today too. This one's made with chickpea flour or besan. The crust tasted a lot of cheela to me, but instead of cooking on the stove top, the crust here is baked in the oven. Apparently this chickpea crepe is also associated to France where these are called Socca and are a popular street food usually served with frosty-cool rosé.
As I was looking for instant pizza bases, I found this Socca Pizza recipe on Cookie and Kate blog. The chickpea base in baked under the broiler until set -- so the longer it bakes, the more crispy and browned the pizza gets.
Topping can be anything from good old marinara sauce to any of your favorite pizza toppings. I put some store bought pesto sauce along with onion, tomato, basil and cheese. Both my kids loved this pizza and I loved it because it is quick and easy to make and is protein rich when compared to regular pizza.

Chickpea flour Pizza with Pesto
Ingredients:

For Chickpea Crust:
• 1cup Chickpea flour or besan
• 1cup Water
• 3tbsp Olive oil, divided
• 1~2 Garlic cloves, finely minced
• To taste Salt
For the Topping:
• 1~2tbsp Pesto (store bought or homemade)
• 1 Small Onion, finely chopped
• 1 Medium Tomato, deseeded and chopped
• 2tbsp Basil leaves, chopped
• 1/2cup Grated Cheese (I used a Mexican blend, but mozzarella or any other melting cheese would work)

Method:

1. For Chickpea flour Crust: Combine chickpea flour, water, 2tbsp olive oil, salt and garlic in a bowl. Whisk well to make sure that there are no lumps. Cover and set aside for at least 30 minutes.
2. Turn on the broiler with the rack about 6~8" from the top. Place a 10" cast iron or oven-safe skillet in the oven to preheat.
3. Once the oven is hot, remove the skillet out of the oven using mitts (be very careful as the skillet will be VERY HOT). Add 1tbsp olive oil and swirl the pan to evenly distribute it. Pour in the chickpea batter and return the skillet to the oven. Broil for 6~8 minutes or until the crust starts to pull away from the sides of the skillet and the edges start to brown.
4. Remove the skillet from the oven. Turn off the broiler and turn on the oven to 450F.
5. Spread the pesto on the crust and top it with chopped onion, tomato and grated cheese. Bake for another 6~8 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the crust is crisp. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the chopped basil on top. Let the pizza cool for a few minutes before slicing and serving.

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 66.