With a half-forgotten bag of chickpea flour in the freezer and a bowl of rag-tag pesto in the fridge, I set out to make a (relatively) elegant vegetarian meal for next to nothing.
The chickpea flour went toward panelle—Sicilian fritters that I discovered last summer but hadn’t yet tried to replicate. Most panelle recipes are a simple combination of chickpea flour and water, cooked until thick, cooled, cut into squares, and fried until golden. My panelle recipe still needs tweaking (I had to contend with flour lumps), so you may want to try a version from Mario Batali or Lidia Bastianich.
The pesto, along with sautéed spinach and a fried egg served as tasty concrete, holding together a stack of three panelle. The only thing that would have made this more delicious would have been a homemade garlicy mayo or maybe some melted cheese.
These panelle stacks are quite presentable, and they deliver big, satisfying mouthfuls of cheap, fried protein. But what I love most about this dish is its versatility. Depending on what’s in season or in your pantry, you could make any number of panelle stack combinations. More I want to try:
- Feta, fresh tomatoes, tapenade
- Roasted eggplant, pesto, wilted arugula
- Mozzarella, roasted tomatoes, basil, fried egg
- Curried vegetables, yogurt, chutney
They’ll be good no matter how you stack them.