👩‍🍳 Cook Like a Niçoise 👩‍🍳

Crisp around the edges, tender inside and generously sprinkled with black pepper, socca is one of Nice’s best-loved street foods. Made with chickpea flour, water, olive oil and salt, it is best enjoyed piping hot.
🎬 Watch Rosa make socca

Resting: at least 1 hour, or up to 48 hours refrigerated
Cooking: 12–15 minutes

Ingredients

• 100 g chickpea flour — approximately ¾ cup
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• A pinch of rosemary or herbes de Provence, optional
• 240 ml water — 1 cup
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, for the pan
• Freshly ground black pepper, to serve

Equipment

• Medium mixing bowl
• Whisk
• Kitchen scale or measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• 23 cm / 9-inch cast-iron skillet or metal cake pan rated for the oven temperature
• Oven gloves
• Spatula

Method

1. Mix the batter. Combine the chickpea flour, salt and optional herbs in a bowl. Whisk in half the water until smooth, then gradually add the remaining water. The batter should have the consistency of heavy cream.
2. Leave to rest. Set aside for at least one hour at room temperature, or cover and refrigerate for up to 48 hours. Rosa recommends the longer rest for a particularly crisp exterior and creamy centre.
3. Preheat the oven and pan. Heat the oven to 250°C / approximately 480°F. Place the empty skillet or metal cake pan on an upper shelf while the oven heats.
4. Add the oil and batter. Carefully remove the hot pan using oven gloves. Pour in the olive oil and coat the base. Add the batter and gently swirl the oil and batter together with a whisk.
5. Bake. Return to the oven for 12–15 minutes. After approximately five minutes, carefully give the pan a gentle shake to help loosen the socca.
6. Serve immediately. Once golden, sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper and cut into rough pieces. Enjoy piping hot, with your fingers, as we do in Nice!

Original recipe and photos

Serves: 6

Ingredients

Dough

• 10 g dry yeast
• 80 ml warm water
• 200 g bread flour
• 5 g salt
• 5 g sugar
• 30 ml olive oil
• 1 egg, room temperature

Topping

• 5 large onions
• 30 ml olive oil
• 1 thyme sprig
• 1 bay leaf
• About 8 anchovy fillets
• A handful of Niçoise olives
• Salt and pepper

Equipment

Bowl, scale, measuring jug, knife, chopping board, frying pan, wooden spoon, baking parchment, tea towel, oiled baking sheet or 28 cm round pan, oven gloves.

Method

1. Dissolve yeast in water. Mix flour, salt and sugar; incorporate yeast mixture, oil and egg. Knead for at least five minutes. Cover; rise somewhere warm for at least 45 minutes, until doubled.
2. Slice onions thinly. Cook with oil, herbs and salt over medium-low heat for approximately 45 minutes, stirring beneath a parchment cover. Let soften and turn golden; pepper to taste.
3. Add two chopped anchovies during the final five minutes.
4. Deflate dough gently; rest covered for 5–10 minutes.
5. Stretch onto the baking sheet or pan; spread onions over it.
6. Bake at 190°C / 375°F for 30 minutes. Add remaining anchovies and olives for the final five minutes.

Delicate zucchini blossoms filled with veal, vegetables, Parmesan and fresh herbs, served with tomato coulis.
This is Jean-Claude’s recipe, featured on Les Carnets de Julie.
Read Jean-Claude’s recipe on Julie Andrieu’s website
Watch the preparation on Les Carnets de Julie

Serves: 6 (three flowers per person)

Ingredients

• 18 fresh zucchini blossoms
• 2 trompette zucchini, or slender zucchini if unavailable
• 300 g veal suitable for sautéing
• 3 eggs
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley
• 120 g Parmesan
• ½ bunch basil
• ½ day-old baguette
• 100 ml olive oil, for cooking and greasing
• Milk, enough to cover the bread
• A little salt
• Prepared homemade tomato coulis, to serve

Equipment

• Kitchen scale and measuring jug
• Knife and chopping board
• Bowl for soaking the bread
• Large mixing bowl
• Frying pan with a lid
• Steamer
• Cheese grater
• Small spoon
• Baking dish
• Oven gloves
• Food thermometer

Method

1. Soak the bread. Cut the baguette into pieces, cover with milk and leave until softened.
2. Prepare the herbs and cheese. Wash and dry the parsley and basil, then chop finely. Grate the Parmesan.
3. Cook the veal. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil with the crushed garlic over medium heat. Add the veal and cook gently without browning for three minutes. Cover and cook for another seven minutes. Reserve the meat and its juices; discard the garlic. The meat will finish cooking inside the flowers.
4. Steam the zucchini. Steam for approximately 20 minutes, until tender. Drain well and cut into small pieces.
5. Make the filling. Finely chop the veal by hand, or pulse briefly in a food processor. Combine with the herbs, Parmesan, eggs, drained bread, zucchini and reserved meat juices. Season lightly with salt.
6. Prepare the flowers. Gently open the blossoms, check inside and carefully remove the central stamen or pistil. Handle gently to avoid tearing the petals.
7. Fill and arrange. Spoon the filling loosely into each flower and fold the petals over to close. Arrange snugly in an oiled baking dish, alternating their direction.
8. Bake. The original written recipe does not specify the final oven temperature or duration. As a home-kitchen guide, bake at 180°C / 350°F and begin checking after 20 minutes. Continue until the filling is fully cooked, reaching 74°C / 165°F in the centre. Timing will depend on the size of the flowers and the amount of filling.
9. Serve. Allow to cool slightly and serve warm with tomato coulis.

A Little Tip

Use the flowers as fresh as possible. To keep them briefly, refrigerate in a closed container with a lightly damp paper towel and use within 24 hours.

Recipe: Jean-Claude, featured on Les Carnets de Julie. English translation and equipment list added for this page. Final baking guidance is an addition, rather than an instruction supplied by the original recipe.