Panzanella Salad is an Italian bread salad that was originally created as a way to use up stale bread to soak up the juice from fresh tomatoes. If you don’t have stale bread, just toast with some oil in the oven.
For the dressing, I use 2 to 1 ratio for oil to vinegar so adjust as needed depending on serving or taste.
Panzanella Salad (Tuscan Bread Salad)
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
Bread:
½ ciabatta or baguette, cut in cubes (better if stale)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Salt, pepper, garlic powder ( optional)
Salad:
3-4 tomatoes cut into cubes
1-2 cucumbers cut into cubes
½ red onion, thinly sliced
Basil leaves, torn
Optional ingredients: bell pepper, kalamata olives or capers
Vinaigrette
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil ( or more as needed)
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar ( or more as needed)
1-2 garlic cloves minced
½ teaspoon each salt and pepper
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Toss the bread with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder on a baking sheet. Toast until golden, about 15 minutes and cool.
(Alternative: heat oil in large pan and add the bread, salt, pepper and garlic powder and toss together. Heat approximately 10 minutes, tossing frequently until browned, adding more oil, as needed.
For the vinaigrette: whisk together all the ingredients in a bowl.
In a large bowl, mix together tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, basil and optional ingredients. Add the toasted bread and toss together with the vinaigrette. Let sit for 15- 30 minutes, tossing occasionally, to allow the flavors to blend and for the bread to soften.
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