Panelle are chickpea-flour fritters and crocchè are potato croquettes; stuffed in a sesame roll they make pane e panelle, a Palermo street sandwich usually served with lemon.

Italian Wikipedia says chickpeas were widely used in Roman imperial cooking as a chickpea-flour paste, that the first panelle were perhaps baked on stone, and that frying them probably began under French rule, since the Angevins liked fried chickpea dishes. The usual way to eat them is pane e panelle, in a vastedda or mafalda roll with sesame, the bread also used for pani câ meusa. A Palermo food guide recommends Friggitoria Chiluzzo on Piazza della Kalsa for panelle-stuffed rolls, called mafalda.

Where to eat Panelle e Crocche in Palermo

4 editor picks for Panelle e Crocche in Palermo, ranked by editorial score. All Palermo signature dishes · Panelle e Crocche across every city.

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Sicilian Cooking Class★ 5.0 (315)

Viator · 4.5 h

Sicilian Cooking Class

The Sicilian Pantry is a family run cookery school located in the heart of the Historical centre of Palermo. We offer daily market tours & cookery lessons of tradition...

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Make it at home

Serves 242 hr 30 minIntermediate

Ingredients

  • 300g chickpea flour
  • 1 litre water
  • 8g fine sea salt
  • Fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • 500g floury potatoes (Russet or similar)
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 50g grated caciocavallo or parmesan
  • Sunflower oil for frying
  • Sesame-seeded vastedda buns for serving

Method

  1. For the panelle, whisk chickpea flour into cold water in a heavy pan with salt. Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring constantly, until thick and pulling from the sides.
  2. Stir in parsley and pour the paste onto a marble slab or oiled tray about 5mm thick. Cool completely, then cut into rectangles 6cm by 10cm.
  3. For the crocche, boil potatoes until tender, mash with cheese, egg and salt. Shape into oval croquettes about 5cm long.
  4. Heat oil to 180 degrees Celsius. Fry panelle in batches for 2 to 3 minutes until golden and puffed.
  5. Fry crocche for 3 to 4 minutes until golden brown.
  6. Stuff 4 panelle and 2 crocche into each warm bun. Salt and serve immediately.

Editor tip. Spread the chickpea paste while still hot for the smoothest panelle; oiling your hands keeps it from sticking.

Common allergens: Gluten, Sesame.