Cinque e Cinque, 5×5 Livornese Sandwich

Cinque e Cinque (5×5) is a Livornese sandwich filled with a soft and good chickpea flatbread marinated grilled eggplant with garlic and chilli and served on soft, crusty rolls.

When we first moved to Italy, we lived in a small coastal town near Livorno, and that's when we were first introduced to Torta di Ceci aka La Farinata Toscana.

Apparently, the origin of the name came from the practice of asking for 5 lire of 'farinata' and 5 lire of bread.

The sandwich is unbelievably good and fairly simple to make. The batter takes 2 minutes to mix up, but should rest for 30 minutes to 2 hours before baking, which is plenty of time to marinade your eggplant.

This recipe makes 2-3 sandwiches but can easily be doubled to serve more. See the full recipe below, plus our top tips and enjoy!

Ingredient notes

• Chickpea flour – also known as Besan or Gram flour. It's used in a lot of Indian cooking, and we usually find it sold in the international food section. Whole food stores should also sell it.
• Bread – traditionally, the sandwich is made on a Francesino roll. We went with a French-style roll that's similar.
• Garlic and chilli – use fresh garlic, and you can go for either fresh red chilli or red pepper flakes. We tend to go for red pepper flakes because we always have them.
• Olive oil and red wine vinegar – We like to use a little red wine vinegar to marinate the eggplant.

Visual walk-through of the recipe

Step 1 – Sift the flour into a bowl, then add the water while whisking to remove as many lumps as possible. Add the salt and olive oil, stir, then cover with plastic wrap and set aside. Let it rest for at least 30 minutes, but 2 hours is ideal (photos 1-4).

Step 2 – cut the eggplant into slices and grill it on both sides (we use a ridged griddle pan). Put the grilled eggplant in a bowl with sliced garlic, chilli flakes, salt, pepper, olive oil and red wine vinegar.

Mix to combine, then cover and let it marinate for as long as possible (you can do this the day before or leave it as long as it takes to make the torta di ceci). Photos 5 and 6.

Step 3 – Preheat the oven to 450F/230C and add a good amount of olive oil to your pan (see tips if using stainless steel). Pour the batter into the pan and bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden brown (photos 7 and 8).

Step 4 – Let the torta di ceci sit for about 5 minutes, then sprinkle a little salt and black pepper. Cut it into slices, then place one slice on a roll topped with 1-2 slices of eggplant, followed by another slice of torta di ceci on top, and serve.

Recipe tips and FAQs

Prep ahead – you can marinate with eggplant (aubergine) 1-2 days in advance. We don't recommend making the chickpea batter in advance, as it can spoil easily (a few hours is fine). The Torta di Ceci is also best eaten the same day it is made.

Scaling the recipe up – this recipe makes enough torta di ceci for 2-3 sandwiches. If you want to serve more, you can double the batter, but you can only cook half of it in the skillet/pan at a time until you use two pans. There shouldn't be any need to double the eggplant.

More good Italian sandwiches to try

Mains

Chicken Pesto Ciabatta

Antipasti

Burrata and Anchovy Sandwich from Amalfi

Antipasti

Mozzarella in Carrozza (Fried Mozzarella Sandwiches)

Bread & Savory Bakes

La Piadina: Italian Flatbread

Ingredients

Makes 3 - 3 sandwiches

For the Torta di Ceci

• 1 cup 9125g) Chickpea flour ((aka Besan or Gram flour))
• 1.5 cups (335ml) Water
• 2.5 tablespoons olive oil
• A good pinch of salt

For the marinated eggplant

• 1 small/medium sized eggplant (aubergine)
• 1 small pinch chilli flakes (about ¼ teaspoon or less)
• 1 garlic clove (finely sliced)
• ½ tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (plus more for grilling)

For serving

• Fresh ground black pepper
• Soft crusty rolls (such as French baguette 1 per person)

Equipment

• plastic wrap
• Grill or griddle pan
• Oven safe non stick or stainless steel pan

Method

Make the chickpea batter

1. Add the chickpea flour to a large mixing bowl. Pour the water in whilst mixing with a hand whisk to remove as many lumps as possible. Add the olive oil and salt. Cover with plastic wrap (cling film) and let it rest for at least 2 hours.

To make the marinated eggplant

1. Cut the eggplant into slices about ¼ inch or 1/2cm thick. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and grill them well on both sides. We use a ridged griddle pan.

2. In a small bowl or ramekin, mix the sliced garlic, chilli flakes, red wine vinegar and olive oil together. Put the eggplant in a bowl and pour the marinade over. Set aside until needed.

Cook the Torta di Ceci

1. Pre-heat the oven to 450℉/230℃ (fan) 475℉/250℃ (static). If you are using a stainless steel pan, then you'll need to preheat it in the oven before adding any olive oil.

2. If using a non-stick pan, you can add the olive oil now. We recommend adding about 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and make sure it's greased well up the sides.

3. Skim away any foam from the chickpea batter and give it a stir. Pour the batter into the pan, then bake in the oven for 20 minutes until coming away from the edges and starting to turn golden brown.

4. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with sea salt and let it rest for a few minutes, then while still hot, remove and cut into slices (big enough to fit your roll).

Assemble

1. Place one slice of torta di ceci on the roll, followed by 2 slices of eggplant, then another slice of torta di ceci on top. Top with lots of black pepper and enjoy.

Kitchen notes

• Grease your pan well it's important to grease your pan well with olive oil even if it's a non stick pan. Torta di Ceci will still stick to the pan if it's not greased well enough. Use about 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil for an 11.5 inch pan (29cm).
• Using a stainless steel pan stainless steel needs to be preheated before adding any oil to make it act as non stick. Pre-heat your pan in the oven, then add the oil. We tend to add a touch more oil if using stainless steel too.