Panelle: the traditional recipe of Sicilian street food

A recipe poor in ingredients, which reaches the restaurants in the streets of Palermo, conquering all sorts of palates. It consists of some typical fried squares from the Sicilian capital, whose history could date back to over a thousand years ago

It is told that Arabs, who dominated the island between the 9th and the 11th century, were the first to grind chickpeas, obtaining a flour to be mixed with water, in order to obtain a kind of polenta. There are no certainties about the first person who decided to turn it into squares to dip in hot oil, making the primordial dough tastier. This, however, is the origin of the panelle, a simple dish which is loved by Sicilians and not only them, just as every fried food. Walking around Palermo, you can find the panelle both as street food and as a starter in restaurants.

These golden thin shapes made with chickpea flour, water, parsley, salt and pepper, can be enjoyed when they are still warm with a few drops of lemon juice or as stuffing of sandwiches (usually mafalde, an Italian type of bread): in this version, they become the well-known pani chi panelli (i.e. some bread filled with the panelle).

What is linked with the panelle is the iconic figure of the panellaro (the seller of panelle), who still walks around the streets of Palermo. Substituting the traditional barrow with a modern lapa (a Sicilian motor vehicle), equipped with a gas cooker and a cookware, this street chef prepares the beloved street food for hungry citizens and curious tourists. Such a typical figure of the Sicilian capital even appears in literature. Here’s him description in Leonardo Sciascia’s The Day of the Owl: “A Carabiniere was sent to catch the panellaro in a hurry. He knew where to find him, because after the departure of the first bus he usually went to sell warm panelle at the entrance of elementary schools”.

Pane e panelle (chickpea flour fritters in bread rolls), like spitini palermitani (small breaded, fried ragu sandwiches), arancine (breaded, fried balls of rice with various fillings), and ravazzate (brioche rolls stuff with ragu) are a typical street food of Palermo. The tasty fritters are served in a soft roll, sometimes with the potato croquettes known locally as cazzilli, too. You can get them from stands or rosticcerie, specialist shops selling roast meat and other prepared food, one of which is the Antica Panelleria da Nino. Francesco Lelio, the shop’s owner, is going to show us both the version you can make at home, as well as the traditional one where the panelle are shaped on small carved wooden boards before being fried. Once ready, the panelle almost looked like little fish. People who couldn’t afford fish would fry the panelle in the same oil used for frying fish, so they could give their family something that would at least recall the taste of fish! Find out how to make this classic of Palermo’s street food at home, following our tips and instructions, and then choose whether to eat them on their own or five at a time in a soft bread roll!

Ingredients

CHICKPEA FLOUR 200 gr

WATER 600 ml

SALT 1 tsp

CHOPPED FRESH PARSLEY to taste

PEANUT OIL (FOR FRYING) 500 ml

SICILIAN MAFALDE 6-7

LEMON 1

PREPARATION

Sift the chickpea flour. Put the sifted chickpea flour in a large bowl. Start pouring water stirring with a whisk. As you add water, stir carefully with a whisk to avoid lumping. Pour all the water and, at the end, the dough must have a very liquid consistency. Add salt and stir with a whisk. Pour the dough of the cakes into a pot. Transfer the pot to the heat over low heat and stir with the whisk continuously. The mixture slowly begins to thicken. Start stirring with a wooden scoop. Slowly it will begin to detach from the walls. Add the chopped parsley. Stir again for a couple of minutes until it starts to simmer. Remove from heat and pour the dough of the panels on a sheet of parchment paper. Level with a smooth spatula to evenly distribute the mixture which must have a thickness of about 5 mm. Allow to cool to room temperature. Cut the panels with a pastry cutter or a rectangular cookie cutter. Gently detach the cakes from the parchment paper. The panels must be compact, without lumps and 5 mm thick. Fry the cakes in hot oil for about 2 minutes without turning them. Drain the panels with a perforated scoop. Place the panels on a plate with kitchen paper towels. For the baked version instead place the panels on the baking sheet, lined with parchment paper. Cook at 200 °C for about 15 minutes and for another 2 minutes with the grill function. Bake the panels. The fried and baked cakes are ready to be enjoyed. Cut in half for the sense of length a crispy and fragrant Sicilian mafalda. Open the sandwich. Place three fried or baked panels on one half according to your taste. Squeeze the lemon on the panels. Close with the other half of the sandwich. Serve the panelle hot.

Recommendations

The panels can be spread directly on the work surface, in marble or steel, with a spatula: take a little dough at a time and create thin and overlapping layers, then cut out rectangles with a sharp knife or a tarot. The dough scraps should not be remixed, but can be fried to obtain the typical Palermo "rascature".

History and curiosities

The panelle were introduced in Sicily thanks to the Arabs, during their long domination: it was they who ground the seeds of the chickpeas to obtain a flour that, mixed with water and then cooked, gave life to a dough similar to polenta. The first panelle were cooked on stone in vertical ovens, usually used to bake flat-shaped breads, typical of Middle Eastern cuisine. In the Middle Ages, however, they began to fry them.

Preservation

The cakes should be eaten hot freshly fried or baked.