Calentita (gibraltarian chickpea bread)

Serves: 8

If they like it, it serves 8 otherwise

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour

Totaltime: 1 hour 10 minutes

It is believed this dish is based on the Genoese 'farinata' which is cooked thinner and often with toppings whereas calentita is cooked in a deeper pan and is never topped with anything but black pepper. Dishes made with chickpea flour date back to ancient times and are quite common around the Mediterranean, such as Nice’s chickpea flour pancake, socca, and Italy’s farinata.

Ingredients

2 cups chickpea flour
2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 3/4 cups water
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation

Whisk together the chickpea flour, salt and pepper in a large bowl
Slowly add the water and whisk to combine. Cover and allow the mixture to rest for at least 2 hours and preferably overnight. (If resting the batter for more than 2 hours, store it in the refrigerator.)
When you are ready to bake the calentita, preheat the oven to 400°F. Pour the olive oil in the bottom of a 9x13-inch glass or metal baking dish and swirl it around to coat the bottom. Place the baking dish in the oven while it is preheating so that the dish can get very hot.
When the oven has reached the desired temperature and the baking dish is quite hot, carefully, remove the baking dish from the oven and pour the calentita batter into the dish. Return the dish to the oven.
Bake the calentita until firm and golden brown on the top, 55 to 60 minutes. Remove from the oven and cut into squares. Leave to stand for a while. Serve immediately.