The air gets cooler, pumpkins arrive and here is this delicious cecina with pumpkin and onions: appetizing, great, healthy and above all economical.
I often prepare cecine or farinata (call them as you like); I soak the chickpea flour for half a day so it becomes more digestible and then I mix in seasonal vegetables and into the oven it goes.
This is also an economical recipe: with this quantity you get two large cecine and you can easily feed 4 people.
500 g of chickpea flour costs €1.85 and you only need 300 grams, so that’s €1.10. Then you need 4 slices of roasted pumpkin—let’s say half a Delica pumpkin which costs €1.99 per kg and half weighs roughly 700 g (about 1.5 lb), so that’s about €1.40.
Then add a nice red onion of about 150 g (about 5 oz) which is roughly €0.50, then 60 g of extra virgin olive oil (about 4 tbsp) about €1.00, so the total comes to around €4. Add a little for the oven electricity and you’re still within €5.
If you want to see some other versions of cecine, here they are:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Preparation time: 4 Hours
- Cooking time: 25 Minutes
- Portions: 4 servings
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn
Ingredients for Cecina with pumpkin and onions
- 2 1/2 cups chickpea flour
- 3 3/4 cups water
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 1 tsp herbs
- 4 slices Delica pumpkin (baked)
Steps for Cecina with pumpkin and onions
Mix the chickpea flour with the water, preferably using a blender to avoid the lumps that the flour can make. Let it rest at least four hours at room temperature.
Cut the pumpkin into slices and roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Then peel and set the slices aside.
Preheat the oven to 428°F (convection). Slice the onion thinly and sauté it in a pan with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt for about ten minutes until tender.
Cut the cooked pumpkin into cubes and mash it slightly, add it to the pan and mix well with the onion.
After the resting time, skim off any foam that has formed on the surface of the batter, and add the remaining ingredients: half of the oil (about 2 tbsp), the salt, the pumpkin and onions. Adjust salt and herbs to taste.
Oil two baking pans with the remaining oil, spread it well and pour in the batter. Sometimes the batter sticks to the pan, so you can opt for parchment paper if you prefer.
Bake for about 25 minutes on a middle-high rack (one up and one down), with the convection setting, until nicely golden. Be careful not to burn it; check, lower the temperature, or cover with foil if needed.
Remove from the oven, cut into slices and serve.
Tips from Timo e Lenticchie
You can keep the cecina for a couple of days in the refrigerator well covered.
