The classic club sandwich with bacon and sliced chicken or turkey is a fixture in many places. But this Ligurian-style version is a vegetarian,– loosely inspired by Livorno’s famous “cinque e cinque,” a typical stuffed sandwich made with chickpea pancakes – combined with the ultra Ligurian prescinseua (a fresh cheese typical of Genoa that’s a bit like yogurt and a bit like ricotta).
This special sandwich is prepared by chef Francesco Parravicini of the Palmaria Restaurant at the Grand Hotel Portovenere, overlooking the Gulf of La Spezia. After years spent working in the kitchens of prestigious hotels in Italy and abroad, he has brought to Portovenere his particular focus on organic, local products, the Ligurian traditions of land and sea, the customs of the nearby Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, and special attention to vegetarians.
On a personal level, he considers himself a Milanese traditionalist, but prefers more Ligurian-style specialties, such as soups with legumes and grains, and obviously fish, which both cook quickly and play up the quality of the products used. To celebrate typical local delicacies and allow guests to taste famous Ligurian dishes, Palmaria offers a special selection of characteristic recipes from La Spezia – a tribute to the area in seasonal rotation – paired with local wines. The menu includes La Spezia-style mussels, cuttlefish with artichokes, mesciua (a local bean soup) and other dishes such as trofie with seafood.
Ligurian-style club sandwich: the recipe
Ingredients for one sandwich
3 slices of sandwich bread, 2 tbsp. prescinseua cheese, 2 oz. of grilled eggplant, 2 chickpea pancakes, pepper
For 1 whole chickpea pancake: 3 cups chickpea flour, 3 cups water, 3 1/2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, salt
Instructions
Prepare the chickpea pancake batter and let it rest for at least a few hours, then bake it in the oven at 445°F or directly in a non- stick pan, forming small crepe-like pancakes. Peel the eggplant, cut it into slices, and grill it. Season it lightly with salt and pepper. Toast the sandwich bread and alternate it with layers of prescinseua, eggplant and chickpea pancakes. Trim off the crust and serve cut into triangles.
