Panelle (Chickpea Flour Polenta)

A week before things got nuts, I spent several days in the South.  As much as I like all those fried and creamy foods, I couldn't take three whole days of it.  Even salads came with fried chicken on top.  I'm much closer to being a vegetarian than I thought I was, and couldn't wait to come home to lighter meals.  It was worse for Melody Smurf, who is genuinely trying to go vegetarian.  She gave up eventually just so she could eat something.  I merely compensated by going a week without having meat at dinner.

Instead of making another socca, I went looking for something else to do with chickpea flour.  I tried to invent some kind of cup or muffin, until I realized what I wanted was polenta.  There's already an Italian recipe for what I had in mind, and it's called Panelle.

The recipes I read had varying opinions on the frying process.  Some broiled the slices, other deep-fried them, and most were somewhere in between.  I'm going for a lightly oiled skillet, just enough to keep the slices from sticking and produce a crispy crust.  You could even barbecue these in a grill pan, like I did with a dessert polenta.  Any more oil, and I might as well make the socca and save myself time and effort.

These are intended to be served with something, not just as pieces on their own.  I caramelized some red onion to put on top and had a light salad of sliced veggies and tzatziki on the side with some bread and cheese.  For a fuller meal, a piece of grilled chicken or poached fish is a good accompaniment.  If you make the slices thin, they can be put on a bun and eaten as a sandwich.  That was a little too much of a carb load for me.

1-1/2 C chickpea flour
water
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Olive oil as needed

1.  Lightly grease an 8"x8" pan and set aside.  Just enough oil that the pieces don't stick.

2.  In a saucepan, stir 2 C water into chickpea flour, salt, and pepper.  I took one recipe's advice to pour boiling water into it, and that got lumpy.  Let's start from cold here.  Stir together until smooth, turn on heat medium-high, and have another cup of water nearby in case the polenta gets too thick.

3.  Bring to a low boil and continue to stir until thickened, about 20 minutes.  If it thickens too fast, add water a few tablespoons at a time.  When ready, you should be able to drop mounds from the spoon.  I even got my spoon to stand up for several seconds.

4.  Spread hot mixture in oiled casserole and smooth the top.  Refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours or overnight.

5.  Heat oil to cover the surface in a large skillet over medium-high.  Slice the panelle in the pan to desired shapes and place in hot skillet.  They should start to sizzle as soon as they touch the pan.  If not, remove for a minute and continue to preheat.  Fry until golden, about 5 minutes per side.  Add oil between batches as necessary.  Serve as a sandwich, on a salad, or with a sauce.

Serves 4 as a main, 8 for appetizer

Difficulty rating  π