How to make fainá
The recipe I am presenting here for fainá originated in Genoa, Italy, where it is still called “farinata”. This dish is another example of an Italian contribution to the traditional Argentinian and Uruguay cuisines. It is simply a mixture of chickpea flour and water, baked then dressed with a wide variety of possible toppings... In Argentina fainá is often served right under or over a slice of pizza, conveniently sliced the same size; this then becomes a "Pizza a Caballo".
Today in Argentina a good fainá is considered an essential side when eating pizza with style; also you can add ingredients such as, mozzarella, oregano, tomatoes, etc… You can add a little grated cheese to the dough to make it more moist...
Ingredients
* 2 cups (250 g) chickpea flour,
* 2 and 1/3 cup (600 ml) water,
* salt,
* olive oil
* If you aren’t planning to eat it with a pizza on top, prepare more ingredients such as mozzarella cheese, tomato slices, sundried tomatoes and oregano
Procedure
1) Preheat the oven to 350 °F. In a bowl, mix the chickpea flour, a little salt them add the water gradually mixing it with a wooden spoon until it becomes a very liquid and smooth dough, without any lumps. Let the dough stand a few minutes.
2) Meanwhile, put 3 tablespoons olive oil in a pan in the oven at 350 °F. When hot add the mixture, and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
3) Add the topping ingredients you have chosen over the faina, and bake about 15 minutes more at the same temperature. Pull out of the oven when the top is golden brown and your very argentinian fainá is ready…