Chickpea pancake with eggplant (cinque e cinque)

Serve this savoury chickpea on a baguette with a slice of grilled eggplant, splash of olive oil, and a good grind of black pepper.

Chickpea pancake with eggplant Credit: Paola Bacchia

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Travelling along the western coast of Italy, at the top of the boot just before it curves towards France, you will nd the town of Livorno. There, you can eat cinque e cinque, a savoury pancake made with chickpea flour (called cecina or farinata). Historically, the name stems from ve lire (the currency of Italy before entry into the European Union) for the cecina and ve lire for the bread. 

Ingredients

• 1 medium eggplant (aubergine), cut into 8 slices lengthways, about 3–4 mm (¼ in) thick
• 1½ tsp salt
• olive oil, for drizzling
• 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
• pinch of chilli flakes
• 100 g (3½ oz) chickpea flour (besan)
• 30 ml (1 fl oz) grapeseed or peanut oil
• 4 small baguettes or ciabatta-style rolls, halved

Draining time: 1 hour 

Resting time: 20 minutes

Instructions

Place the eggplant in a colander over a sink and rub in 1 tsp of the salt. Cover with kitchen towel and leave to drain for 1 hour. 

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Pat the eggplant slices dry and transfer to a baking tray. Drizzle over a little olive oil and bake for 10–15 minutes, turning them over halfway and adding a bit more olive oil to the surface of each eggplant slice. Remove from the oven when the edges start to crisp, but the centre of each slice is still tender. 

Layer the eggplant slices in a ceramic dish and scatter over the garlic and chilli. Drizzle with a bit more oil and set aside to marinate and soak up the garlic flavour. 

Place the chickpea flour in a large bowl and add 300 ml (10 oz) water. Whisk for a good 5 minutes to get rid of all the lumps – the mixture will froth up quite a bit. Set aside for 20 minutes or until all the froth floats to the top. Skim the froth from the surface, leaving behind a very liquidy dough. Add 20 ml of the oil and the remaining salt and stir with a wooden spoon. 

Preheat your grill (broiler) to high. Coat a cast iron pan with the remaining oil and pour in the liquid dough until it is 1.5–2 mm (1/16 in) thick. Place under the grill and cook for 7–8 minutes, watching so that it does not burn. The cecina is cooked when it is crisp and golden on top but still soft in the centre. 

Cut the cecina into four pieces and place in the baguettes or rolls with a couple of slices of eggplant and a good grinding of black pepper. Ideally, the cecina should still be warm when served. 

This recipe is from Italian Street Food. (Smith Street Books). Photography by Paola Bacchia.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Travelling along the western coast of Italy, at the top of the boot just before it curves towards France, you will nd the town of Livorno. There, you can eat cinque e cinque, a savoury pancake made with chickpea flour (called cecina or farinata). Historically, the name stems from ve lire (the currency of Italy before entry into the European Union) for the cecina and ve lire for the bread.