Panzanella

Paanzanells, a sexy way to say bread salad.

PANZANELLA! Doesn't that sound absolutely beautiful and gourmet? It's bread salad and while it is absolutely beautiful and gourmet, I grew up simply calling it bread salad. Think caprese or bruchetta broken up in a bowl.

This is a great way to use stale Italian bread and enjoy (what in my mind is) a taste of summer. If you look at 5 different Panzella recipes, you'll see many variations in salad dressing ingredients, how to prepare the bread, and even the basic ingredient list. What you will always find in the recipe is chunks of bread, ripe tomatoes, and basil; beyond that, you can let your imagination soar.

The recipe I'm sharing here is from the most recent time I made it. Truth be told, it was to use up the panella bread I made a month or so ago so I'd have photos for the blog post. I had some English cucumber kicking around, so I threw that in the mix. I sometimes include fresh mozzarella cut into chunks, chopped scallion tops, pea shoots, or other micro greens.

I think the most important elements to a great Panzanella are the preparation of the bread and the salad dressing. If you get them right and you have nice tomatoes, you can't go wrong no matter what your other ingredients.

You're probably thinking, it's stale bread, what's to be done with it, right? Well I'm gonna tell ya.... Toss the cubed bread in some seasoned olive oil and bake it at 350 degrees in a single layer on a silicon or parchment lined cookie sheet until the edges start to get golden, and let it cool on the sheet while getting everything else together. For some extra zing, you can sprinkle some shredded Asiago on the chunks once they're on the cookie sheet. Even the shreds that fall onto the cookie sheet and get crunchy while baking can go into the salad.

Traditionally, and in my house growing up, the dressing was a simple mix of olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and herbs, and it was yummy! But..... once I had my own kitchen, I discovered balsamic vinegar and simply can't get enough of the stuff. Between the balsamic, the ripe tomatoes and the basil, the dressing can be pretty sweet so I add a touch of Dijon mustard to the mix, and I also use the juice from the tomatoes instead to water to adjust the acidity of the dressing. For the recipe, I am showing basic proportions for ingredients, using 1 cup as the baseline.

THE RECIPE:

1C stale bread cut into 2/4" cubes

3T Olive oil for seasoning bread cubes

2t herbs de Provence

1C chunked ripe tomatoes set in a mesh strainer over a bowl to catch the tomato liquid

1C chunked English cucumbers

2T each dried basil and oregano

Salt and Pepper

1/4C balsamic vinegar

Olive oil and tomato liquid combined to equal 3/4C

1t Dijon mustard

Preheat the over to 325 degrees

• Cut bread into 1/2 to 2/4" cubes

• In a small bowl whisk herbs de Provence into olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste

• Spread the bread onto a rimmed cookie sheet lined with parchment or silicone mat.

• Drizzle the seasoned olive oil over the bread and stir around to get all the bread lightly coated and spread back out into a single layer.

• Bake for 10 minutes or so until crispy and aromatic.

While the bread is toasting:

• Cut the tomatoes into chunks about the same size as the bread and transfer to a mesh strainer over a bowl to catch the liquid you'll use in the dressing. If you sprinkle a bit of salt on the tomatoes they will emit more liquid.

• Cut the cucumber into chunks to match the bread and tomato size

Note: if you were adding cheese or other ingredients, you'd follow the same rule about size.

For the Dressing

• Combine tomato liquid with enough olive oil to make 3/4 cup

• In a medium bowl, combine oil mixture, oregano, basil, mustard and balsamic vinegar and whisk until well blended. The mustard will help to emulsify and keep the oil from separating.

• Transfer tomatoes and cucumber chunks to a serving bowl and toss with the dressing.

• Just before serving, add the bread and toss well to coat it with the dressing.

I think this is best when the bread still has some crunch. If you prefer it on the softer side, add the bread when you add the dressing and it will soften up, but be aware, it will absorb more of the dressing too.