Panelle sandwich with fennel slaw (Clover Food Lab-inspired copycat) (Vegetarian)
Inspired by Boston-based Clover Food Lab's panelle sandwich, this recipe stuffs tangy shaved fennel salad and crisp on the outside, custardy on the inside fried panelle into pita halves for the perfect bright, but hearty spring vegetarian sandwich.
Equipment
- Chef knife
- Mandoline slicer
- Large bowl
- Small saucepan
- Frying pan
- Thermometer
Ingredients
Fennel, citrus, and olive slaw
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tbsp)
- 1 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp honey
- ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ⅛ tsp black pepper freshly cracked
- 1 small fennel bulb, including stem and fronds bulb and stems shaved against the grain about ⅙ inch thick, fronds roughly chopped
- ¼ bunch flat-leaf parsley (about 55g) roughly chopped
- ⅓ cup Kalamata olives roughly chopped
Panelle
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ½ tsp fresh rosemary chopped
- ¾ Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ½ cup chickpea flour
- ¼ cup flat-leaf parsley roughly chopped
- vegetable oil or other neutral-flavor, high smoke-point oil to fry the panelle in
To serve
- mayonnaise
- lemon wedges
Instructions
Fennel, citrus, olive slaw
- Add the olive oil, lemon juice, honey, garlic, salt, and pepper to a jar or small container with a lid add. Shake until well combined.
- Into a large bowl, place the shaved fennel bulb and fennel stem, and roughly chopped fennel fronds, flat-leaf parsley, and Kalamata olives.
- Pour about 1½ tbps of the dressing onto the salad. Mix until well-coated. If you prefer your salad a bit wetter, add more dressing in ½ tbsp increments until it's to your liking.
- Cover and place into the refrigerator.
Panelle
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, add olive oil. When the oil is shimmering, add the minced garlic and chopped fresh rosemary. Sauté until fragrant and the garlic is just starting to color.
- Add 1 cup of water and ¾ tsp of Diamond Krystal kosher salt.
- Little by little to prevent lumps, slowly whisk in the chickpea flour. Once all of the flour has been added, lower the heat to medium-low and continue whisking vigorously, until the mixture is thick (similar to polenta) and starts to pull away from the edges of the saucepan.
- In an even layer, spread the mixture into a pan or container, or onto baking sheet about ½ inch thick. I used a 9x6 inch pan (See Note 1). Let cool for at least 1 hour until firmed up.
- Preheat the oven to about 140℉.
- When you're ready to fry the panelle, heat about ½ inch of vegetable oil to 350℉ in a frying pan. Keep the heat between medium-low and medium.
- Cut the cooled panelle into 2½ x 1½ inch rectangles.
- Fry the panelle rectangles in batches (don't overcrowd the oil) for about 3 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels. Season with salt while warm, then place into the warmed oven while you finish frying the other panelle rectangles.
- Warm the pitas and carefully split open the pockets. Spread a decent amount of mayonnaise inside of each pocket, then stuff each pita with an equal amount of fried panelle and fennel slaw. Serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over top.
Notes
- I used a 9x6 inch pan, which resulted in an even layer of panelle about 1/2 inch thick. If you don't have a container, pan, or baking sheet this size, you can also free-hand spreading the panelle, but try to spread it out into a rectangular shape.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!