Socca Pizza with Summer Squash and Feta
This chickpea flour pizza crust is easy, delicious and gluten free. I topped my pizza with my Greek flavors, but you can add any pizza toppings you'd like!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 2, 2024
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An earthquake interrupted my slumber early this morning. In my dreams, I was jogging along a winding, foggy forest path with friends, while in reality, a 4.2-magnitude quake was rumbling up to my parents’ house. All of a sudden, I was awake and riding the mechanical bull formerly known as my bed. Cookie barked, and it was over as quickly as it began. Oklahoma already gets hit by tornadoes so this new earthquake phenomenon seems a bit excessive, but I respect mother nature’s occasional reminders that she’s still the boss around here.
I made this socca pizza the night before before I headed south for an extended weekend. So, what is socca, anyway? Socca is a simple, savory, crispy pancake made with just chickpea flour, water, olive oil and salt. Apparently it’s a popular street food in Nice, France, where they sprinkle it heavily with freshly ground black pepper and serve it with cold glasses of rosé. Let’s go!
The longer socca bakes under the broiler, the crispier the bottom sides and edges become. Crisp socca makes a fine gluten-free pizza crust, with a flavor slightly reminiscent of falafel, and it’s even easier to make than pizza dough. Socca, socca! (Sing it like polka, polka!)
The base socca recipe you see here comes from a new cookbook called The Homemade Flour Cookbook, by Erin Alderson of Naturally Ella. Erin is one of my closest blogging pals—I text her for emergency advice and answer our video chats in my PJs. She’s a very good friend indeed. Naturally, I was super excited when her beautiful book arrived on my doorstep, fresh from the publisher.
In her new cookbook, Erin explains how to turn all kinds of whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds into homemade flour. Then she presents 100 creative recipes that utilize those homemade flours. She offers everything from zucchini and corn empanadas (made with a spelt crust) to blueberry muffins (made with amaranth flour) to banana cream pie (complete with a raw sunflower crust). Many of the recipes are gluten free.
I haven’t experimented much with homemade flours in the past, but Erin’s book makes the process seem totally approachable. Transforming dried chickpeas into chickpea flour took less than a minute in my high-powered Blendtec blender (head’s up: that’s an affiliate link, as are my amazon links). In the book, Erin says that you can also grind chickpeas into flour using a coffee grinder, but I don’t have one of those.
I learned that the milling process is LOUD, but it’s over quickly. I saved a few dollars by doing it myself, so that’s a plus. If you don’t have the proper equipment, you can buy chickpea flour at natural food stores or at Middle Eastern stores (it is also called besan flour, gram flour or garbanzo bean flour).
Bonus: freshly milled flour tastes better, especially when it comes to whole grain flours. Why? The milling process exposes natural oils that are present within the grains, and those natural oils go bad more quickly when they are exposed to air. If your whole wheat flour or whole wheat bread tastes bitter, it’s probably because the oils in the flour have gone rancid. Time to start over with fresh flour.
Erin’s recipe for socca pizza turned out beautifully. She presented a margherita pizza in the cookbook, topping her socca with sliced tomatoes, mozzarella and fresh basil. The tomatoes growing in my backyard are still bright green, so I decided to play with the Greek flavors that I typically associate with chickpeas instead. I added creamy feta, Kalamata olives, ribboned summer squash and a light sprinkling of fresh thyme to mine. You can add any pizza toppings you’d like. Let me know how you like yours!
Socca Pizza with Summer Squash and Feta
A simple and delicious, gluten-free chickpea crust pizza. I topped mine with summer squash ribbons and other Greek flavors, including feta and fresh thyme. You can add any pizza toppings you’d like! Be sure to allow an hour for the chickpea flour to soak up water. The rest comes together quickly. Recipe as written yields one small (9- to 10-inch) pizza.
Ingredients
Socca pizza crust
- 1 cup (120 grams) chickpea flour
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup olive oil, divided
- 1 to 2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Pizza toppings
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella
- ¼ cup crumbled feta
- 1 small zucchini and/or yellow squash (I used both but had leftovers of each), ribboned with a vegetable peeler and/or julienne peeler and tossed lightly in olive oil
- 5 pitted Kalamata olives, sliced in half lengthwise
- Small handful sun-dried tomatoes (either oil-packed or Trader Joe’s dried kind)
- 1 small sprig fresh thyme, optional
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together the chickpea flour, water, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, garlic and salt. Let the mixture rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
- Turn on the broiler with a rack positioned 8 inches from heat. Place a 10-inch ovenproof skillet (preferably cast iron) in the oven to preheat.
- Once the skillet is hot, carefully remove it from the oven (it’s crazy hot, wear oven mitts!). Pour in 1 tablespoon olive oil and swirl the pan around so the oil is evenly distributed. Pour in the chickpea batter and return the skillet to the broiler. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes, until the socca is set and the edges are browning and pulling away from the sides of the pan. Remove from oven, turn off broiler and turn oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Spread the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil on top of the socca (it will soak right in). Top the socca with mozzarella, then distribute the ribboned/julienned squash on top. Sprinkle olives and sun-dried tomatoes on top, then sprinkle feta over the pizza.
- Return the skillet to the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the cheese is browning and the socca is crisp. Remove from oven and sprinkle fresh thyme on top. Let the pizza cool for 2 to 3 minutes before slicing into 4 pieces and serving.
Notes
Recipe adapted from The Homemade Flour Cookbook by Erin Alderson.
Make it vegan: Skip the cheese for veggie flatbread.
Leftover squash suggestions: Turn leftover squash ribbons into a squash ribbon salad, like this, or just add them to a simple green salad.
Change it up: You can treat the socca pizza crust as though it were any basic pizza crust. Erin made a margherita pizza with her socca crust—she simply topped her pizza crust with sliced tomatoes and shredded mozzarella and sprinkled fresh basil on top once it came out of the oven.
Recommended equipment: a 10-inch cast iron skillet.
If you love this recipe: You’ll also love my other recipes with Greek flavors.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
made this tonight, fantastic, used tomato paste instead of oil before the mozzarella, will have again.
I am making this right now and am so excited for it to come out of the oven! I am adding a egg on top of mine! Yummers, thanks Kate.
Oh, love the egg-on-top idea! Just brilliant.
It turned out fabulously well! I made it two nights in a row, I just couldn’t get enough :)
Awesome! Happy to hear that.
Made this pizza today, with the addition of mushrooms and maybe I didn’t let it sit for an hour (let’s say 15 minutes), and it was GREAT! My super non-vegetarian husband said he didn’t even miss the meat. Delicious–thanks so much for another fab recipe!
Thank you, Rebecca! Glad to know it turned out well with just a 15 minute rest!
This was excellent and so easy! I’ve made it twice so far with different toppings. So good.
Awesome! Thank you, Heather!
Can I make my own chickpea flour by grinding dried chickpeas in a blender?
Hey Lindsay! You can IF you have a really awesome blender, like a Blendtec or Vitamix. I’m not sure a regular blender will be up to the job.
Hi Kate. I don’t have a broiler. What if use the oven to make the socca? Will it work?
I’ve made this 3 times and I love it. Mine always has a big bubble in the center when broiling. I just pat it down before adding the last bit of oil. Is it normal that it puffs up?
Glad to hear it, Kerry! I think mine has puffed up before. I’m not sure how to avoid it, so your method might be best!
Can I use canned chickpeas?
No, you have to use chickpea flour made from dried chickpeas for the socca.
Hi,
I was wondering if you find that the socca gets a bit soggy once you put the toppings on and if there is a way to avoid it? I find that after baking the pizza it is really nice if you eat it immediately but after about 5-10 minutes it becomes soggy.
I’ve made this recipe several times and love it. I stupidly forgot to turn the oven down last time, so sort of burned the top, so remember that detail. It’s quick to make and super tasty.
Thank you, Debra! I’m sorry about your burnt one, that’s a bummer.
My fault, and just a heads up to remember to turn the temp down. Just made this dish (again) this weekend for guests, who loved it. Roasted a lot of heirloom tomatoes (thanks to an overabundant farm share) and used those instead of store bought sundered tomatoes. (Also, this is great for people like me who are gluten-free.) Delicious.
Oh, that sounds fantastic. I think this socca would be awesome with ratatouille, too.
I made this a few nights ago and WOW, it’s so good! So many of the healthy alternative pizza crusts that are popular right now (looking at you, cauliflower), are so not worth it, but this is amazing – flavorful, soft, protein packed, and the perfect vehicle for veggies. I added sliced roasted red peppers, and once out of the oven I topped it with arugula tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper, and then drizzled with balsamic glaze. Definitely a keeper; I think I’m making it again tonight :)
Thank you, Katie! It’s great to hear from you and I’m so glad you enjoyed this one!
Step 3– the socca is NOT flipped, so as to cook the uncooked side?
Just made this last night and it was amazing! The crust has tons of flavor, and I’m already thinking of the different herbs I could add next time. This recipe is definitely going into my quick weeknight dinner rotation.
Right? Who knew homemade pizza could be so simple! So happy you enjoy it, Amanda.
Hi Kate! I was looking through some pizza recipes, and I know this is an older thread, but I wanted to say hello and thank you for all that you share with us. If it’s any help, geologists now believe that many earthquakes in OK are caused by fracking, a dangerous and polluting process by which oil is extracted from the ground. Despite the current setbacks on the environmental front, some states are working to outlaw fracking. Good luck and keep posting the deliciousness (-:
This is so kind, Michelle. Thank you! And yes, I’m hoping that we can see some progress in regards to fracking and its impact on people’s lives.
Hi Kate. Thank you for this recipe! I was so excited when I came across it. I spent a summer in Nice, France almost ten years ago, and one of my favorite street food snacks there was socca! It was so fun to make it and be reminded of the tastes and smells of Nice!
Oh, I’m so glad this could bring back such wonderful memories for you, Keri! Thanks for the kind comment.
I don’t have an oven-safe skillet? Anyone tried this in a pie pan? I assume it won’t be as crispy but probably still delicious.
I bet a pie pan would work well. Just be careful with it; it’ll be super hot.
Best alternative pizza crust yet. I’ve tried zucchini crust, cauliflower crust, eggplant – while the eggplant parmigiana wasn’t bad, none of it is really pizza. This is easier than the zucchini and cauliflower, and it WORKS.
Thanks, Bridget! I’m so glad you love this one!
Oh my goodness… I made this for dinner tonight for my family and we LOVED it. I am gluten free and we love pizza in this house so finding a quick, INEXPENSIVE, delicious recipe was such a delight! We used tiny cherry tomatoes fresh from the garden, oregano and yellow squash… my three year old devoured it! Really, thank you. We are looking forward to trying it again with different toppings later this week!
That sounds heavenly, Courtney! Garden-fresh produce makes all the difference.
This should be on your ‘favorites’ list. Can I vote 1000 times? The main thing I would change is to use a larger skillet since I don’t have cast iron. I think it would completely ‘cook through’ in a larger pan if using a lighter weight one. This recipe was even incredible without cheese. I added more salt and some herbs to the batter. Also used onion, red pepper & mushrooms.
Yes, please! Ha. Thank you so much, Pam.
This was absolutely delicious! I’m always searching for ways to use chickpea flour and this recipe is now my go-to since there are no filler flours or unhealthy add-ins for the “crust”. I am obsessed with this pizza. Thank you :)
This recipe was a huge hit with us! I made as directed, but used store-bought chickpea flour, added roasted red peppers, and subbed sliced tomatoes for the sun-dried ones. I was really impressed with how crispy the crust got and how well it held together (even as leftovers).
• Add a generous amount of olive oil to your hot skillet to prevent sticking – 1 tablespoon worked great in my 9 inch skillet but was not quite enough for my 12 inch. Pour the batter in gently so that it doesn’t completely displace the oil.
• I forgot to apply olive oil to the top before toppings and I didn’t notice any difference.
• A high-quality feta and a drizzle of balsamic helped amp up the flavor.
• Compared to wheat pizza, this is really filling. Half a pizza filled me up, which is not the case with “normal” pizza. Plan accordingly.
• My only struggle is how best to scale this recipe since you need to cook it in a skillet. We managed to jam two skillets under our broiler at once, but not sure that’s ideal.
Thanks so much for sharing, Lauren! I appreciate the review.
Made it this morning! Sounded sooo good! We loved it….
Fantastic! Thanks for commenting, Pamela.
Excellent excellent I’ve made this twice not disappoint you not even miss regular piece that you loved it thank you for sharing
You’re welcome, Cristina!
This was..revelatory! First of all, the socca crust is easy – and fun – to make, and a great wheat-free/gluten-free alternative. And it handles really well and does not get soggy. The other revelation was the “ribbonized” squash: I’d never used it that way before and it was great as a pizza topping, retaining some “bite” and adding a delicate summer flavor. We threw on some mushrooms and omitted the thyme for a slight variation, but this recipe is a winner.
Sounds delicious! Thank you, Peter.
Can you help me figure out how to make this in high altitude? over 8k feet. Center seems mushy but outside gets cooked. How do i need to adjust for altitude baking?
Hi Philipp! I wish I could be more help. Unfortunately, without testing it out and not living in high altitude, I can’t help. I’m sorry to hear you are having issues!
Hi
I made this last night using a cast iron pan and a regular skillet because I wanted to make two simultaneously. The cast iron skillet one turned out a lot better. I wish I had a better understanding of how much better should be in each pan. I still cannot decide if I had too little or too much in the pan.
We did pesto with the squash ribbons and red onion and some cheese.
do you know what vegan means??? cheese/dairy in every recipe won’t cut it!
Hey JJ, I do know what vegan means. This website is entirely vegetarian. I often classify recipes as vegan when I can offer simple substitutes in the recipe notes that make them vegan. Otherwise, you could miss out on a ton of delicious vegan recipes. I understand if you disagree. Perhaps find an all-vegan blog if that’s what you’re looking for, but you’ll miss out on some great recipes here.
I was able to make this recipe with Violife feta and Violife mozz, and it turned out amazing! 100% vegan. We are lucky to have so many vegan cheese options these days!
I’m glad those alternatives worked so well! Thank you for your review, Johanna.
Hey Deepthi! Thanks for questioning the nutrition info. I just double-checked our analysis and we accidentally inflated the measurement for the olives. The calories are closer to 600, with high protein/fiber. You could reasonably get three servings from one pizza, depending on how hungry you are!
This was an interesting recipe! I have chickpea flour that I am trying to figure out what to do with and I have a feeling the rest will be used for socca. I was hesitant because I don’t have a broiler or cast iron skillet. But I used a pie dish and heated oven to 425 and honestly it came out perfectly! I topped the socca with mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, kalamata olives, and fresh basil. Will be experimenting with different veggie toppings until I use up this chickpea flour!
I didn’t review this recipe the first time I made it because it was a mess. My pan wasn’t properly seasoned, so the socca stuck, and the whole thing fell apart. We still ate it, and it was delicious, so I knew I would try again. I re-seasoned my pan, used a bit more oil, and went with caprese toppings. It was wonderful! I wish I had bought a larger bag of chickpea flour because this is going to be a regular dinner at our house.
I’m sorry you had a poor experience the first time! I’m happy it worked out for you this time. I appreciate you taking the time to review!
Cooked as written. A perfect summer dinner (and a good way to use up some of that zucchini from the garden). Super yummy and easy. We will be making this again.
It works well in an waffle iron too. Crispy waffels, ideal for a savoury topping. I am Swedish so I like to top it with sour cream and Loejrom (roe of the small salmonid fish species vendace, Coregonus albula).
This was exquisite! I almost didn’t add the feta but am glad I did. It added a salty taste that was perfect with the fresh thyme and sweet sundries tomatoes. I wouldn’t change a thing. This will be a perfect casual company meal with a side salad. We will be having this many times.
I can’t find a single comment from someone who actually made this.
Really delicious, but will need to make some adjustments for our oven. Ours came out a bit soft in the middle. I think we didn’t cook long enough in the first phase and didn’t preheat the pan long enough. Also our pan was a bit smaller( 8”). Excited to try it again.
Deee-licious! If you’re on the fence about this, get off it and get into the kitchen.
I’ve made socca before, and this was a new fun way to have it – I invited a few friends over for an informal summer dinner get-together on the patio and it was a hit!
The simplicity lends well to trying (off the top of my head) a baba ganoush base with tomatoes, parsley and peppers, or pesto with sundried tomatoes, feta and mozzarella, or ricotta with asparagus and a squeeze of lemon. And I’m thinking of trying a muffin tin for a fun mini-pizza night! It’ll be fun to see if these can scale down.
This broil method worked well. I usually preheat the oven and pan at 425F, starting 30 minutes before the batter has finished resting. If I have a very high smoke point oil (like avocado) I’ll add the oil before the preheat. Otherwise I add it just before the batter goes in. I think I’ll switch up my methods depending on my mood!
Thank you, Jimmy! I’m glad you loved it.
Hi Kate! Thank you for this recipe. I usually buy only cauliflower crust pizza and adding the zucchini and yellow squash from my garden will be fantastic! I love all your zucchini recipes anyway! Have a tasty day and thank you again.
You’re welcome, Catherine!
I just ordered two Homemade Flour Cookbooks, one for me and one for a friend! Cant wait to try your pizza recipe!!