My favorite recipes are those that open up a new lane of cooking and prompt me to imagine that lane leading in all sorts of new directions.
Take the Pesto Socca Pizza I came across recently in “The Ultimate Vegan Book,” a collection of more than 600 recipes by seven authors. Now, I’ve used chickpea flour in myriad ways, starting with pancakes that take shape in France, called socca, and in Italy, known as farinata. But writer Marie Reginato does something different, using much less water — and a touch of almond flour — to quickly form a dough you can roll out and bake until crisp. The flavor and texture of the crust remind me of pastry more than pizza: It’s a little crumbly, in a good way.
