The Sicilian Blog

Pour the chickpea flour , a 500g bag into a non-stick pan if possible and add 1.5 liters of mineral water. To dissolve all the lumps that form, we recommend using an immersion blender, a couple of seconds is enough and it all becomes an emulsion.

Add just a pinch of salt, so as to leave room for salting after frying together with the black pepper. Also add plenty of chopped parsley and, for those who like it, chopped shallots and spring onions which give the panelle added value and a particular flavour, or some fennel seeds.

Place on the heat over medium-high heat for about 40 minutes or until the mixture is very dense and puffs of air are created which indicate that it is boiling, always taking care to mix well on the bottom, boil for a couple more minutes and the cooking is finished.

To form the panels, the traditional system involves spreading the hot dough into moulds. To simplify, we can use the back of the saucers which usually has a recess of around 8/10 cm. in diameter and a thickness of 4/5 mm. perfect for creating a panel.

The process is simple:

• Prepare at least 12 small plates.
• Without turning off the flame, reduce to the minimum to maintain the tempering.
• Start spreading the mixture on the bottom of the saucers with a spatula or wooden spoon.
• Let it cool while you finish spreading all twelve saucers.
• With the help of a second person, start removing the cold panelle from the saucers to continue spreading the dough.
• This spreading and removing process must be done until the pan is completely empty.
• To easily remove the panelle from the saucer, our advice is to cut it in two and lever with the same knife, so that two half-moon-shaped panels come out.
• Spread the panelle out to cool, but they are still ready to fry.

Another alternative system for forming the panels is to pour the dough into a container, let it cool well and cut into slices of about 4mm.

Once the panelle has been formed, fry it in plenty of sunflower seed oil or, if you prefer, until golden brown. The swelling is normal and is an added value that identifies the original moulding. In fact, it can only be obtained by forming it in traditional wooden molds and in a saucer.

The fried panelle can be enjoyed alone or in a sandwich, salted and spiced to your liking and for those who like it you can add drops of lemon.

2,40 € each Sicilian Chickpea Flour: Gluten Free and Rich in Nutrients Choose options