Leeky Fennel Farinata with Fixings
/For your weekday lunches or chill Weekend brunches, I urge you to make this glutenfree Génoise classic! I have used yoghurt and baking powder for a fluffy center and Yorkshire pudding cooking principle of batter in super hot oil for crisp edges. Hope you like it as much as we do.
*it involves resting time so make sure to read the full recipe to plan accordingly
INGREDIENTS (serves 4 as a side)
Batter
200g Chickpea Flour
30g Full Fat Greek Yoghurt (sub with your preferred vegan yoghurt)
575g Cold Water
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1.5 tsp Salt
1.5 tsp ground White Pepper (substitute with black pepper)
2 tsp Baharat Spice Blend (optional but highly recommended)
2 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tbsp chopped Tarragon leaves
Filling
100g Leeks (only white & light green portion), sliced into thin rounds
1 large Fennel Bulb cut into 8-10 wedges
Pinch of sugar
1 tsp Olive Oil
2 tbsp Toasted Pumpkin Seeds (optional)
50ml Neutral Oil
Flaky Sea Salt & Fennel Fronds for garnish
Pickled Asparagus (optional)
8-10 Green Asparagus, shaved into thin strips
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp Chile flakes
1 tbsp chopped fresh Basil leaves
1 tbsp chopped fresh Tarragon leaves
Sauce (optional)
1 tbsp Unsalted Butter (substitute with vegan butter or oil)
15 Cherry Tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 small Shallot, chopped
1/4 tsp Chile flakes
1 tsp Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
Directions
🥣 Combine and whisk first 3 batter ingredients until very smooth (ensure no dry floury spots remain). Cover & let it rest at room temp for 4-5 hours or overnight
🥣 Meanwhile make the sauce. Melt butter in a skillet, add tomatoes, garlic and shallot. Fry on medium heat for 10 mins or until tomatoes have broken down & look jammy. Once cooled, blitz the contents from skillet with remaining ingredients. Adjust seasoning & vinegar, if required. Keep it aside
🥣 Now add remaining batter ingredients to the rested base batter mix. Add leek rounds and whisk everything; pre-heat oven to 465F (or 230C). Now add 50ml oil to a 33 x 23 cm large baking dish & pop into pre-heating oven
🥣 Heat up 1 tsp olive oil in a pan, add fennel wedges & sugar. Lightly caramelize the wedges all over, for 3 mins. Take out the baking dish after 15 mins & immediately pour the batter while it makes a hissing noise. Swiftly arrange the Fennel wedges on top and put it back into the oven for 18-20 mins or until the edges look deep golden & crisp
🥣 While the Farinata is in oven, make the pickled asparagus - toss all ingredients & let it pickle for 20 mins. Once out of the oven, run a spatula underneath & transfer the Farinata onto a board , sprinkle flaky salt & more white pepper. Cut into squares, serve along with the sauce and pickled asparagus. Highly recommend with some Lillet Blanc or Rosé
*Note: you can absolutely substitute shaved asparagus with some arugula