La Cecina

Cecina is a thin, crisp, pizza-like pancake from the Tuscan coast. It is simply made by stirring chickpea flour into a mixture of olive oil, salt and black pepper, to form a loose batter, and baking it in the open oven.

The word Cecina comes from the Italian word Ceci that means Chickpeas.

It one of the most traditional food of Tuscany, and it is really hard to find it anywhere else outside the region.

La Cecina is traditionally cut into irregular shaped triangular slices, and then stuffed into Focaccia bread or between two slices of Pizza Margherita.

It is one of the most popular traditional Tuscan snack food, and it sold in Pizzerias and bakeries.

In the town of Livorno, Cecina is usually served between two slices of bread, and it is one of kids favorite food to eat for Merenda (snack-time).

Cecina also make a wonderful appetizer, along with cold cuts like, prosciutto, mortadella and Tuscan soppressata.

We offer visits and hands-on cooking classes to Tuscan pizzerias and bakeries, to show our guests how these traditional food are still made today. All of our partners are located in small towns off the beaten path.

We want to provide our guest the highest quality in travel, our goal is to make them experience the authentic Tuscan everyday life.

Join us for a trip of your lifetime, get to know one of the most beautiful place on earth:

La Toscana!

Here is La Cecina recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup chickpea flour
2 cups water
2 TSP olive oil
Dash salt and black pepper

Preparation:

Mix the batter (it is very watery) and let set for 2-4 hours.

Fire your oven so that is is hot and ready for fire-in-the-oven
cooking. Maybe two Mississippi's. This is a good brick oven recipe
because it cooks best with top and bottom heat.

Pour a liberal amount of oil in a baking sheet with 1" (or so) sides.
Add enough batter to make a 1/4" - 1/2" thick flat-bread, and bake for
10 minutes. It should be brown on top. Cut and drizzle with olive
oil, sprinkle with black pepper and serve immediately.

Bakeries have seasoned cast iron pans, so that Cecina does not stick

to the bottom, but a steel pan should work as well.

Chickpea flour is both healthy (a good source of protein) and tasty. Buon appetito!