Panzanella (Italian tomato & bread salad)

Panzanella is a simple but delicious Italian salad of tomatoes, bread, and onions.

Wonderfully refreshing, it’s dressed with extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar and basil.

My version includes multicoloured tomatoes plus red onion, cucumber, celery, and a little garlic.

I like the salad with quickly baked crunchy croutons. But I’ll also show you how to make it the traditional way with bread soaked in the juices.

An easy, but so-good salad for a warm day, it also makes a lovely side dish to meat or fish.

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MOIST OR CRUNCHY?

Traditionally, Panzanella was a way of using up stale bread.

The torn up, dry morsels were often first moistened in a little water before being combined with the rest of the ingredients including the dressing.

The result was soft bread which had taken up all the lovely flavours.

However, away from its Tuscan origins, these days it seems more popular to include baked or toasted bread to bring some crunch to the Panzanella.

Personally, I like a halfway house. I coat bread cubes in olive oil and lightly bake them for about 10 minutes.

I mix the croutons with the rest of the salad just before serving. That way, they still have a little crunch but soften and imbibe the flavours as I eat.

To get the best results, use a firm bread and don’t make the chunks too small.

Homemade sourdough, a couple of days old and cut or torn into roughly 2-3 cm pieces, is ideal.

TOMATOES

As I write, my homegrown tomatoes are finally rapidly ripening.

I only have a few pots and hanging baskets of tomatoes. But it’s surprising how prolific they are once they get going.

The tasty, mainly cherry-sized, tomatoes are perfect for panzanella which needs good, flavoursome ones.

I love to see different coloured tomatoes and this year, I grew red, yellow, gold and orange varieties.

But if you only have red ones that’s fine. Just use the best quality you can.

Seasoning the tomatoes with a little salt, then setting aside while you prep the other ingredients will help bring out their flavour. Skip this step if you prefer them firmer though.

PANZANELLA

After you’ve made the croutons (the detailed recipe at the end gives instructions for the moist bread version too) and drained the salted tomatoes, it’s then just a case of assembling the salad.

Along with the traditional tomatoes and onions, I include deseeded cucumber, finely chopped celery, and garlic.

The dressing is equally simple: three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, one of red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper.

I like a pinch of sugar for balancing sweetness, but you can leave it out if you prefer.

I toss everything with the dressing then, just before serving, add in lots of torn fresh basil.

As I said above, I add the croutons at the very last minute.

You can serve the salad from the bowl or, as I like it, transferred to a platter, and topped with small whole leaves of basil plus more croutons.

Doesn’t it look inviting and refreshing?

Juicy tomatoes, little bites of fresh vegetables, lightly toasted chunks of bread, all flavoured with a hint of garlic and lots of basil.

SIMPLE, REFRESHING, DELICIOUS

Despite its simple ingredients, panzanella with well flavoured tomatoes and good bread is a wonderful thing.

It makes a fantastic lunch, starter, or main meal salad.

If you want to go really non-traditional, then consider adding one or more of these extras (just don’t tell the Tuscans):

• anchovies
• olives
• capers
• roasted peppers
• torn mozzarella

I think panzanella is best eaten fresh. Or you can prepare the vegetables in advance (yes, I know tomatoes are a fruit!) and toss with the basil, dressing and crunchy bread just before serving.

Right now, in much of Britain, we’re experiencing unusually hot and muggy weather. So, with the tomatoes ripening, it’s a perfect time to enjoy Panzanella.

With next to no cooking (or none if you’re going traditional and using untoasted bread) it’s refreshing but satisfying whether eaten on its own or as a side to meat, fish or other protein.

HAVE YOU MADE MY PANZANELLA

LEAVE A COMMENT & DON’T FORGET TO RATE THE RECIPE!

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Panzanella (Italian tomato & bread salad)

A simple but delicious and refreshing salad dressed with olive oil, vinegar and basil.

Make it the traditional way with soaked bread or with crunchy croutons.

Course Main Course, Salad, Starter, Lunch

Cuisine Italian

Keyword tomato and bread salad

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 2 as a main course, 4 as a starter or side

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

• 400 g ripe tomatoes cut into bite size chunks
• salt
• 2 thick slices good quality bread e.g. sourdough total weight approx 150g
• 3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pinch sugar optional
• 1 small red onion finely sliced or chopped
• ⅓ - ½ cucumber cut in half lengthways, seeds scraped out with a spoon, then sliced
• 1 stick celery finely sliced
• 1 large clove garlic very finely chopped
• 1 small bunch basil leaves only

Instructions

1. Salt the tomatoes (optional)

   Toss the prepared tomatoes with a little salt and set aside.

2. The bread

   Cut or tear the bread into large chunks (2-3 cm square).

   - If you want traditional panzanella with soft, moist bread: put the chunks into a large bowl.

   - If you want crunchy croutons: preheat the oven to 220C / 200C fan / Gas 7). Put the chunks onto a plate and gently toss with 1 tbsp of the olive oil. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes until lightly toasted and golden, turning halfway through. Set aside.

3. Make the dressing

   In a small bowl, whisk together 3 tbsp of the olive oil, the tablespoon of red wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, plus the sugar if using. Set aside.

4. Drain the tomatoes in a sieve then transfer them to a bowl (the one containing the bread chunks if you didn't make croutons).

   Add the red onion, celery and garlic to the bowl and gently toss everything together.

   Tear the basil leaves (keep back a few whole small leaves for garnish if liked) and gently toss through the salad.

5. If making traditional panzanella: set the salad aside for 15-30 minutes for the bread to soak up the flavours before serving topped with the small basil leaves.

   Otherwise: toss the croutons into the salad, reserving some for a garnish if liked.

   Serve immediately, either from the bowl or transferred to a platter, topped with the reserved croutons and basil leaves if using.

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