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Fainá - Garbanzo Flatbread

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Fainá - Garbanzo Flatbread

Fainá

Marian Blazes

Fainá is a nutty, peppery flatbread (related to the italian flatbread farinata) made with garbanzo bean (chickpea) flour. Fainá is hugely popular in both Argentina and Uruguay. It makes a great appetizer, (especially with toppings), but it's most often served as an accompaniment to pizza. In fact, it's a common practice to place a slice of fainá on top of a slice of pizza. When pizza and fainá are paired this way it's called pizza a caballo (horseback pizza).

Fainá is very quick and easy to make, and you can find garbanzo bean flour (gluten free, by the way) at many natural food stores.

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 cups garbanzo bean flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 7 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese (optional)
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 2-2 1/2 cups water

Preparation:

  1. Whisk the garbanzo bean flour together with the salt, 3 tablespoons olive oil, parmesan cheese, and a generous amount of ground black pepper.

  2. Whisk in 1 3/4 cups of water until well mixed. Set aside for about a half hour, to let the flour absorb some of the water.

  3. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. When it is hot, place the remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a 12 inch pizza pan, and heat in the oven until very hot.

  4. Stir more water into the batter until the batter is thin enough to pour. Remove hot pizza pan from oven, and pour batter into the pan. It should make a thin (about 1/4 inch) layer. Place in the oven and bake until fainá is golden and crispy (about 8-10 minutes).

  5. Cut into pieces and serve.

Note: You can use a smaller pan to make thicker faína, which will need a slightly longer baking time.

User Reviews

 5 out of 5
that's what is South American about it..., Member msblazes

Argentina and Uruguay are known for their love of Italian food..but they adapt some Italian dishes into their own culinary scene, like this one. Argentinians enjoy faina in their own way - like by eating it on top of a slice of pizza, for example. It's definitely an Italian dish, but one that has been slightly reinterpreted to fit its locale..

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