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Panzanella

Original recipe from Eats History

Ingredients

  • 2-3 thick (2cm+) slices of quality sourdough that’s either stale or been dried out by putting in a 200F oven for 20-30 minutes
  • 3 fresh ripe tomatoes — quality matters. Heirlooms are nice. Firmer kinds better than those with too much liquid already.
  • 1/2 red onion
  • 1 English cucumber
  • Handful of fresh basil
  • 2 cloves of garlic

Instructions

Cut the bread into large cubes then toast like you would croutons, in hot olive oil until you get some good color on most of it. Sprinkle over a little sea salt and then set aside.

Dice the tomatoes into large pieces. The cucumber needs to be peeled, deseeded and chopped into similarly large chunks. The onion should be thinly sliced. Lastly finely chop the garlic (or use a garlic press).

Place the tomato into a large bowl and salt it generously. Add the cucumber, onion and garlic and toss well to combine.

In a separate bowl to be used for serving, add a quarter cup high quality extra virgin olive oil and a bit more than a tablespoon of red wine vinegar. Season with salt and pepper and then use a balloon whisky to combine well.

Add the vegetables (be sure to include any and all tomato juice) into the serving bowl along with the bread. Tear the basil into pieces and add that too.

Now toss the salad thoroughly trying to ensure everything gets some of the dressing on it.

Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour (yes, really).

Remove from fridge and give it 5-10 minutes to warm up. Then top up with a drizzle of olive oil if it looks a bit dry.

Optionally serve with mozzarella and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar (not traditional but good). Also good with hard boiled eggs, salmon (baked, smoked) and probably chicken too…

Nutrition

Estimated, per serving

  • Servings: 4
  • Serving size: ~1.5 cups
  • Calories: 340
  • Protein: 6 g
  • Carbs: 31 g
  • Fat: 21 g
  • Saturated fat: 3 g
  • Fiber: 3 g
  • Total sugar: 5 g
  • Sodium: 550 mg