Another Maria favorite. These are just simple, yummy treats -- another Sicilian comfort food. Best eaten hot with some basic white supermarket "french" loaf.
Panelli
Yield: makes about 24 pieces
Ingredients
- 4 cups garbanzo bean flour. We've had the best luck with Bob's Red Mill. There are better ones, but not as reliable to find. The worse (inedible) was a fancy expensive organic flour. Maybe it was rancid? Anyway, Bobs Red Mill bags are 4 cups.
- 4 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 5 cups water
- 3 emptied and cleaned 12 oz tin cans
- canola oil for frying
Method
- Mix dry ingredients.
- Slowly work water into dry ingredients. Mix with one hand, using your fingers and breaking up the clumps. Mix all the water in until there are no lumps.
- Put the mixture on the stove in a pot. Stir continuously, scraping up the bottom with a flat-topped wooden spoon. Stir continuously. This stuff sticks no matter what, but keep working it off the bottom of the pan.
- As it heats, it will thicken. It will thicken in clumps. Don't be alarmed at this, just keep scraping and stirring until the whole mass turns into a big mortar-like clump.
- Take it off the heat, and spoon the mixture into the tin cans. Knocking the cans on the counter top to pack the mixture in.
- Chill the cans for a few hours. The panelli will get solid as it cools.
- when the panelli is completely chilled through, slide it out of the cans, and slice. You should get about 8 or 9 slices from a can.
- Make a small incision in the center of each disc to let air escape during frying.
- Pour about 1/2 inch of oil into a heavy pan and heat the oil until it just barely shows faint wisps of smoke.
- Fry the panelli until golden, then flip and fry the other side.
- Sprinkle with a bit of salt and then drain on paper towels or on a rack. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and
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