The Chicagoist will be launching later but in the meantime please enjoy our archives.

Real Food, Real Fast: The Farinata Project

By Melissa McEwen in Food on Mar 18, 2015 3:50PM

While I love to cook from scratch, some nights it can seem a little overwhelming. Luckily there are a lot of local options for things you can keep in your pantry or freezer for those moments and don't contain any ingredients I wouldn't use myself. One of my favorites are the farinata from the Farinata Project. They are savory little chickpea pancakes from Genoa that later became a popular food in parts of France as well, where it's usually called socca.

The Farinata Project's farinata are sold frozen and they cook beautifully, with nice golden brown crispy edges in ten minutes in a 400° F oven. They make a bunch of flavors including a wild mushroom with gruyere, tomato and white cheddar and red chard with raisins and pine nuts. They are full of vegetables, high in protein and full of flavor.

I started buying them when I was dating someone who was gluten-free and loved that I could just throw them in the oven for a quick and tasty dinner. But my love for these lasted beyond the relationship, just because they are so good and easy to make.

They cost around $5.99 each, but that's not much compared to most take out options or going to a restaurant. You can get them at a variety of local retailers including Green Grocer, Provenance or Plum Market and you can get them delivered from Artizone as well.

If you want to try farinata and have the time, check out our recipe for farinata "pizza."