Author Notes
This is a secretly healthy, vegan recipe, but shh... don't tell! Farinata is a savory cake from the Liguria region of Italy and is made from chickpea flour which makes it gluten-free. The flavorful pesto is made from kale, spinach and chard and has a generous helping of protein rich hemp seeds. I used pine nuts in the pesto as well, but if you want to go completely nut free, just substitute the pine nuts with more hemp seeds. —Lauren Godfrey
Ingredients
- Leafy greens pesto
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2 cups
kale, ribs and stems removed
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1 cup
spinach leaves
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1 cup
chard, ribs and stems removed
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1/2 cup
toasted pine nuts
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1/4 cup
hemp seeds
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3 tablespoons
meyer lemon juice
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2
cloves garlic, minced
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1 1/3 teaspoons
kosher salt
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1/3 cup
extra virgin olive oil
- Chard farinata
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2 cups
chickpea flour
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3 teaspoons
kosher salt
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1/4 cup
chard leaves, minced
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extra virgin olive oil
Directions
- Leafy greens pesto
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Prepare an ice bath. Blanch kale, spinach and chard in a pot of boiling water until soft, about 1 minute. Immediately submerge blanched greens in ice bath until cool. Wring out all excess water from greens by squeezing with your hands. Set aside.
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Preheat oven to 300. Place pine nuts on a rimmed baking sheet and cook for 10 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until golden brown. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Reserve half of the toasted pine nuts for garnish.
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In a food processor, add the blanched greens, half of the pine nuts, hemp seeds, lemon juice, garlic and kosher salt. With the processor on, drizzle the olive oil in to the mixture until incorporated, scraping down the sides as needed. Blitz for several minutes until all ingredients are well incorporated and the pesto appears creamy.
- Chard farinata
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Whisk chickpea flour and kosher salt with 2 1/2 cups of water and 1/4 cup olive oil until all lumps are eliminated. Set aside at room temperature to allow the flour to absorb the liquid, for several hours up to over night. Just before baking, whisk in minced chard leaves.
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Preheat oven to 475. Place 12" cast iron skillet in oven for 5 - 10 minutes or until it is heated through. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the skillet making sure that the entire surface is covered. Add the chickpea and chard batter and return to the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, turning halfway through.
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Cut into wedges and serve warm with a generous dollop of leafy greens pesto and some toasted pine nuts.
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