Combining Levantine flavors to create a delicious gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free, vegan pizza recipe baked in a cast iron skillet! Levantine Socca Pizza is the healthy exotic twist you need to spice up pizza night!

It’s here! The final pizza to celebrate unofficial pizza month! I’ve given you a bunch of new gluten-free and grain-free crust ideas and this one is yet another to add to the list! This one took a little bit of before-hand prep, which I showed you on Monday. The Baba Ghanoush Hummus is only one of the spreads you’ll need to top this Levantine Socca Pizza!

You may have noticed right away that I baked this luscious pie in one of my favorite kitchen appliances, my cast iron! It creates the perfect browned and flavor-infused bottom to this socca crust! And it comes off clean and easy (which is what we all want!) We don’t want to lose any part of our chickpea flour crust because it gets stuck in some terrible tragic pan!

Before I get too ahead of myself and assume y’all know what socca is, let me give you the rundown. Socca (also called Farinata) is a chickpea flour “flatbread” or large pancake. Originally from France (I know!), but seen mostly in Middle Eastern cuisines now-a-days. You just need chickpea flour and liquid to make socca, but of course, that’s just the “basic”. We will be making a much more stellar, heartier, and “pizza-crust-worthy” socca today!

What makes this socca more than just a thin flatbread is…..sweet potato! Sweet potato puree to the rescue for making a perfect pizza worthy crust that will stand up to all the luscious sauces and topping that grace this pie! The crust comes out soft and bready and the perfect thickness.

To make this pizza really shine, through a few different layers, here’s what you get. Layer 1: socca crust, layer 2: harissa, layer 3: baba ghanoush hummus, “layer” 4: eggplant strips and fresh cilantro! Is your mouth watering? Yes! You get to bite through all those lovely layers. It really is a pie of bliss! You can eat this whole thing yourself if you have a super appetite, or share it with a very trusted and loved friend (because you know…it’s PIZZA)!

I didn’t know what cuisine this pizza fell under, so that’s why I’m using the regional term, Levantine. This encompasses the Middle Eastern area of Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey. It covers all my bases for this pizza creation.

I hope you’re as excited as I am about this pizza! I think it may be my proudest “pie” creation to this point. It may have to do with the magic of the cast iron, the chickpea flour, the harissa, or maybe that baba ghanoush hummus. Well, I guess it’s just a combination of it all! So here you go; let’s get pizza making!

Levantine Socca Pizza

Levantine Socca Pizza

Combining Levantine flavors to create a delicious gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free, vegan pizza recipe baked in a cast iron skillet! Levantine Socca Pizza is the healthy exotic twist you need to spice up pizza night!

• Author: Rebecca Pytell
• Cook Time: 18 mins
• Total Time: 18 mins
• Yield: 1 Pizza 1x
• Category: Main
• Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• Socca Crust:
• 1/2 Cup Chickpea Flour
• 1/2 Cup Sweet Potato Puree (or butternut squash)
• 1/4 Cup Water
• 1/4 Tsp Onion Powder
• 1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder
• Toppings:
• 2 TB Harissa (I use mild)
• 1/4 Cup Baba Ghanoush Hummus
• 1 Small Eggplant (cut into thin strips)
• 2 TB Chopped Cilantro

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the chickpea flour, potato or squash puree, water, and spices. Mix to combine a smooth, thick batter.
3. In a well greased cast iron skillet, spread the socca batter in a 10 inch diameter circle (about 1/4 inch thick).
4. Then spoon on the harissa and spread it around, next spread on the hummus, and finally layer on a few thin eggplant strips and sprinkle on the chopped cilantro.
5. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes (mine was done in 18).
6. Remove and allow to cool before removing and slicing!

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Yes guys, I used baby food yet again 😉 That stuff is just too handy and has the perfect consistency! Now, I hope y’all join me in grabbing your cast iron and making some delicious, mouth-watering, “omg-flavor!” Levantine Socca Pizza today!

So tell me:

+ Have you ever made socca? Funny story, I few years ago I tried to make a socca crust and it was such a huge fail! The entire thing just stuck to the baking dish and it was a mess. I made this pizza in its place. Lucky me, I finally conquered the socca pizza!

+ Do you have a pizza stone? I think I might want to get one. We have one, but it’s so “gluttened” that I obviously can’t use it 😛

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