Making Panzanella Bread Salad is a simple way to use up stale bread. Also known as Tuscan Bread Salad, Panzanella is made with garden vegetables and day-old bread.

Tuscans sure know how to do things. They take the simplest of ingredients and make delicious and comforting foods from them. However, don’t confuse simple with tasteless. They may use common ingredients, but these components are of high quality and full of flavor.

I’ve had this dish on my list to make for years, but never got around to it until I visited Tuscany and actually tasted it.  Once I sampled bread salad made the Tuscan way,  I knew I had to recreate it as soon as I got back.

I’ve been chomping at the bit to make this salad, but I wanted to use tomatoes from my garden, so I waited patiently for them to reach their peak.  When that finally happened, I grabbed a loaf of sourdough bread from the freezer, thawed it, and let it sit out so it would be stale and ready for use in this dish.

Almost all of the ingredients I used are local, except the olive oil. Well, the wheat for the flour isn’t grown locally, but the bread was made in my kitchen, so that will have to do for now. The tomatoes, cucumbers, and basil are from my garden.

Panzanella Bread Salad

Adapted from: Tuscan Bread by Ornella D’Allessio – Sergio Rossi

This book was originally written in Italian, but fortunately for me, they also translated into English. The translation is a bit humorous at times.

Makes: Enough for 4 people

Ingredients:

• 300 g of stale bread (I used 6-7 slices)
• 3 or 4 tomatoes (or to taste)
• 1 onion
• 1 cucumber
• 2 stalks of celery
• Fresh Basil
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Water and vinegar, for soaking the bread

Tear the stale bread slices and place them in a bowl.  The bread salad I had in Tuscany was made with Tuscan bread, but you can make it with any type of bread as long as you can tear it.

Add some water and two teaspoons of vinegar.  Let the bread soften in the bowl for 10 minutes, then squeeze and crumble the bread into salad bowls.

While the bread is softening, slice the onion into rings and roughly chop the celery, tomatoes, and cucumber.  Add the chopped vegetables to the bread mixture and toss well.

Add salt, pepper, basil, and olive oil to taste and mix again.

Place the Panzanella in the refrigerator and let it rest in the fridge for a least 2 hours before serving.

Take the bread salad out of the refrigerator.  Serve and enjoy!

This Panzanella bread salad is simple to prepare, which is exactly why I decided to make it now. I’ve been recovering from finger surgery and wanted to avoid putting too much strain on it while it heals. I’ve been gravitating toward foods that require minimal effort. This recipe fits the bill perfectly.

Making it actually gave me two unexpected benefits. First, I was able to use up one of the older loaves I had tucked away in the freezer. Second, chopping the vegetables gave my finger some light practice, helping it adjust to different textures and movements.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy