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Food Recipes Vegetarian February, 1st 2011 by Archana Laxmisan

Socca with Roasted Butternut Squash and Red Pepper Sauce

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Roasted Butternut Squash- Red Pepper Sauce (makes about 2 cups)

Butternut squash roughly diced – 2 cups
Red pepper – 1 whole
Anaheim peppers – 4
Salt to taste – ½ tsp
Water – ½ cup
Olive oil -2 tbsp
Rosemary – ½ tsp
Sage – ½ tsp

Photo by Archana Laxmisan

Coat a baking pan lined with aluminum foil with cooking spray.

Preheat broiler.

Roast the butternut squash, red pepper and Anaheim peppers separately. Roast the butternut squash until edges are brown and the inside is cooked (about 10 min). Cook the peppers until the skin just begins to darken. Turn the vegetables after a few minutes to make sure both sides are evenly cooked.

Remove from broiler and let cool.

Puree in a food processor with oil and spices; add a few tbsps of water, at a time. The consistency should be just a little thicker than ketchup.

This sauce can be used as a topping on pizza, crostini, pasta or simply toss it with vegetables. YOu can even use it with your breakfast eggs, or as a marinade.

Socca (serves one)- Adapted from Food.com

Chickpea flour (besan) – ¼ cup
Salt – ¼ tsp
Pepper – ½ tsp
Warm water – 1/4 cup
Olive oil – 2 tbsp
Onion, minced – 2 tbsps

Rosemary -1/4 tbsp

Photo by Archana Laxmisan

Preheat oven to 450F. You can use a cast-iron skillet. Baking pans and anodized aluminum skillets can also be used. Warm the skillet in the oven.

Sift chickpea flour, pepper and salt together. After sifting, add rosemary leaves.

Blend in water and 1 tbsp. of olive oil.

Allow the batter to set for a few minutes. Mix sliced onions into the batter.

Add 1 tbsp olive oil to the hot skillet, pour batter into pan and bake for 10 minutes or until the socca is cooked. It should separate from the pan, but the surface in the center may not be cooked.

Set socca a few inches below the broiler for about 1 minute which will cook the surface, if needed.

The socca can be served just like that or with toppings of your choice.

Suggested toppings:
Roasted Butternut Squash-Red pepper sauce- about 2 tbsp. (Recipe above)
Sliced Kalamata olives – 2 tbsp
Parsley, chopped – 1 tbsp
Dill, chopped – 1 tsp
Feta cheese, crumbled – 2 tbsp

Top the socca with the sauce and layer the cheese, parsley and herbs. Place the socca back in the broiler for 1-2 minutes.
Serve hot!

About the Author

Archana Laxmisan Has Written 4 Articles For Us!

Archana is an Instructor in General Internal Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. Archana Laxmisan recently moved to Houston after a brief stint in Iowa City, and has lived in New York City, the UK and Thiruvananthapuram. As an Indian far from home, she’d like to leave you with a thought from one of her favorite authors, Terry Pratchett: “It is important to know where you come from, because if you do not know where you come from, then you don’t know where you are, and if you don’t know where you are, then you do not know where you are going. And if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re probably going wrong.”

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