Chef Graziella
Arancini alla Siciliana
Golden fried rice balls from Sicily, where Arab culinary influence meets Italian home cooking. The saffron-perfumed rice conceals a heart of slow-simmered ragù and sweet peas.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Panelle Palermitane
Created by
Chickpea fritters from the street carts of Palermo, where vendors have fried these thin, golden rectangles for centuries. Three ingredients. No shortcuts. The lemon is essential.
Appetizers & Snacks
Italian, Sicilian
Weeknight
Comfort Food
20 min
Active Time
30 min cook•3 hr total
Yield6 servings (about 24 fritters)
Panelle belong to the friggitorie of Palermo, the street stalls where men in white aprons have been frying since before anyone can remember. They are poor food: chickpea flour, water, salt. Nothing more. The parsley is a concession to color. The technique is everything.
The batter is cooked like polenta until it pulls from the pan, then spread impossibly thin on marble and left to set. Palermitani vendors spread theirs so thin you can see light through them. This thinness creates the defining quality: shatteringly crisp on the outside, creamy as custard within. Thick panelle are an abomination.
You must eat them hot, with lemon squeezed over the top. In Palermo they tuck them into soft sesame rolls called mafalde and sell them from carts near the markets. At home, they disappear from the plate before you can arrange them. This is correct. They are meant to be eaten immediately, standing up, burning your fingers and not caring.
Panelle arrived in Sicily with the Arabs, who ruled the island from 827 to 1091 and brought with them the cultivation of chickpeas and the technique of frying thin batters. Palermo's friggitorie, the street stalls that specialize in fried foods, have been serving panelle from the same locations for generations. The dish survived because it cost almost nothing to make and satisfied hunger completely.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
chickpea flour (farina di ceci)
Quantity
300g
cold water
Quantity
1 liter
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
2 tablespoons
chopped fine
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
freshly ground
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
for the pan
vegetable oil
Quantity
about 2 cups
for frying
lemons
Quantity
2
cut into wedges
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| chickpea flour (farina di ceci) | 300g |
| cold water | 1 liter |
| fine sea salt | 1 teaspoon |
| flat-leaf parsleychopped fine | 2 tablespoons |
| black pepperfreshly ground | to taste |
| extra virgin olive oil | for the pan |
| vegetable oilfor frying | about 2 cups |
| lemonscut into wedges | 2 |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy-bottomed 3-quart saucepan
- •Wooden spoon for constant stirring
- •Marble slab, wooden board, or sheet pan for spreading
- •Deep skillet or shallow frying pan
- •Spider or slotted spoon for frying
Instructions
- 1
Combine flour and water
Pour the cold water into a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Sift the chickpea flour through a fine-mesh strainer directly into the water, whisking constantly as you add it. This prevents lumps. The mixture should be completely smooth before you turn on the heat. Add the salt and whisk once more.
- 2
Cook the batter
Set the pan over medium heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon, reaching into the corners where the batter likes to stick. After about 15 minutes, the mixture will thicken dramatically and begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. It should have the consistency of thick polenta. When a spoon drawn through it leaves a clean trail that does not immediately fill back in, it is ready.
Do not stop stirring. The batter will scorch on the bottom if left unattended for even a minute. Your arm may tire. This is how you know you are working. - 3
Add the parsley
Remove the pan from heat. Stir in the chopped parsley and a generous grinding of black pepper. The parsley should be evenly distributed throughout. Work quickly; the batter sets as it cools.
- 4
Spread the batter thin
Brush a large marble slab, wooden board, or sheet pan with olive oil. Turn the hot batter onto the surface. Using an oiled spatula or the back of a wet spoon, spread it into a thin, even layer, no more than 3 millimeters thick. Thinner is better. Street vendors in Palermo spread theirs so thin you can nearly see through them. Let it cool completely at room temperature, at least two hours.
If the batter is too thick, your panelle will be dense and doughy in the center. The thinness is everything. It creates the contrast between crisp exterior and creamy interior. - 5
Cut into shapes
When the batter has set firm, cut it into rectangles approximately 8 centimeters by 5 centimeters. Traditionally they are cut into rough rectangles or triangles; precision is not the point. The edges may be uneven. This is poor food, and it should look like it.
- 6
Fry until golden
Pour vegetable oil into a deep skillet to a depth of about 2 centimeters. Heat until a small piece of batter sizzles immediately when dropped in, about 180°C (350°F). Fry the panelle in batches, without crowding, until deeply golden and crisp on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. They should puff slightly and develop blisters. Drain on paper towels.
- 7
Serve immediately
Sprinkle with a little more salt while still hot. Serve immediately with lemon wedges alongside. The lemon is not optional. The acid cuts the richness and makes you want another. In Palermo, these would be stuffed into a soft sesame roll. At home, they are perfect on their own, eaten standing in the kitchen while they are still too hot to hold.
Chef Tips
- •Seek out Italian chickpea flour, labeled farina di ceci. The flour sold for Indian cooking is sometimes roasted, which changes the flavor. You want raw, finely ground chickpea flour.
- •Marble is the traditional surface for spreading the batter because it cools quickly and releases cleanly. A sheet pan brushed with oil works adequately.
- •The batter can be spread, cooled, and refrigerated overnight. Cut and fry the next day. The texture is unchanged.
- •Do not attempt to fry too many at once. Crowding drops the oil temperature and produces soggy, greasy panelle instead of crisp ones.
Advance Preparation
- •The batter must be spread and cooled completely before frying, at least 2 hours at room temperature.
- •Once set, the unfried panelle can be covered and refrigerated for up to two days. Bring to room temperature before frying.
- •Fried panelle cannot be held. They must be served immediately. There is no way around this.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 85g)
Calories
310 calories
Total Fat
16 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
13 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
415 mg
Total Carbohydrates
29 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
11 g
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