Ingredients

Along the Ligurian and Tuscan coast, Italian street vendors sell scrumptious chickpea-flour pancakes called farinate, fried in a wide pan. At home, these are best cooked in a hot oven. Serve warm or at room temperature with plenty of paper napkins. Chickpea flour, commonly sold as gram flour in Indian shops, can also be bought from Doves Farm (www.dovesfarm.co.uk).

Serves 4

150g gram (chickpea) flour
½ tsp fine sea salt
400ml lukewarm water
5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 small red onion, finely sliced
1 small pinch finely chopped fresh rosemary
Freshly ground black pepper

Put the gram flour and salt in a large bowl. Slowly add a little water, stirring with a wooden spoon until it forms a thick, smooth paste, then change over to an electric whisk and beat in the rest of the water. Whisk for a further minute before leaving to rest for a minimum of 2 hours.

Heat the oven to 230C/450F/Gas Mark 8. Pour the oil into a 22cm x 32cm nonstick baking tray and place in the hot oven. Meanwhile, skim off and discard the froth from the top of the rested batter. Stir the batter and pour into the smoking hot oil in the roasting tray. Swirl it around so that the batter forms a 1cm layer across the bottom of the pan. Scatter over the sliced onion and finely chopped rosemary and return to the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, until the mixture has set. Season with freshly ground black pepper and allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting into easy-to-eat pieces.

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