Panzanella Bread Salad recipe

Panzanella Bread Salad

My parents came over for dinner last week and brought a big bowl of Panzanella with them. We sat down to dinner, I took one bite, grabbed my camera, carried everything outside, and took a few close ups. (My family didn’t skip a beat and kept right on eating. I am sure my children will grow up thinking it is perfectly normal to document our dinner plates.)

I loved the salad the first night when the bread still had a slight crunch to it. And as leftovers for a picnic lunch the next day when the flavors had all come together perfectly. And then later that night as we drove home from a football game at 10 o’clock, and I ate the last of it from the container with my fingers.

Panzanella is Italian for “bread salad,” which is roughly translated in English as “super delicious.” Dry, stale cubes of bread are mixed with tomatoes, basil, green beans, and/or peppers which soak up the vinaigrette. From what I have read, traditional Panzanella recipes have you soak the bread in water before squeezing it out and adding it to the other ingredients. I like the ease and flavor of just starting with dry bread and letting it soak up the dressing.

Now you might be thinking Bread Salad? That just sounds like a mushy mess. I thought the same thing before I tried it. Instead, the stale bread turns soft and is a great combination with the crunchy vegetables. Any sturdy, Artisan-style or French bread would work great for this recipe; dry, leftover Lahey’s No-Knead Bread is perfect.

Try this salad while we still have plenty of fresh, local tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, green beans, and basil available! You won’t regret it. Who knows? You may even snap a picture of it.

Panzanella {Bread Salad}

Adapted from an Ina Garten recipe

Ingredients

Salad:

1 small loaf of Artisan-style bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups)
2 large, ripe tomatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and sliced 1/2-inch thick
2 c. green beans, trimmed and steamed until tender and/or 2 bell peppers, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 sweet onion, thinly sliced
20 large basil leaves, coarsely chopped
3 T. capers, drained

Vinaigrette

Ingredients

1 t. finely minced garlic
1/2 t. Dijon mustard
3 T. red wine vinegar
1/2 c. olive oil
1/2 t. kosher salt

1. Toast the bread, tossing occasionally, in a large pan on the stovetop or on a baking sheet in the oven until nicely browned. Set aside.
2. For the vinaigrette, whisk all the ingredients together.
3. In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, red onion, basil, and capers. Add the bread cubes and toss with the vinaigrette. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Allow the salad to sit for about half an hour for the flavors to blend and serve at room temperature.

Have you noticed how much I adore Ina Garten? Her recipes are the best; this salad recipe comes from her Barefoot Contessa Parties (Amazon)! I own all of her cookbooks and even check out her cooking show DVD’s from the library because I am a nerd like that. Check out her latest book, Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust.

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