How to Make Panzanella Bread Salad

Do you love tomatoes but hate that the best parts of the salad - juice from the tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar - end up at the bottom of the bowl? Do you wish you could drink it down or spoon it up? Italians have the solution! Put bread in the salad to soak up all that good stuff.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 4-6 nice big juicy tomatoes, cored and cut into wedges
• 2 cucumbers, peeled and diced, seeds left in
• 1 onion - yellow, sweet, or red - thinly sliced
• A few leaves of fresh herbs -- parsley, basil, oregano -- chopped
• 3 to 4 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil of your choice
• 1 to 1-1/2 Tablespoons 12-year Aged Riserva Balsamic Vinegar
• Sea Salt and coarsely ground Black Pepper
• ½ a loaf (about ½ a pound) of good Italian bread, cubed

1. Put the tomatoes and cucumbers and their juices, and the onion and
   herbs into the salad bowl.

2. Combine the Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Riserva 12-year Aged Balsamic
   Vinegar, and salt and pepper, and pour over the vegetables. Mix well.

3. Add the bread cubes and toss. Let the salad sit for 20-30 minutes so
   that all the juices soak in. If you don't feel like cubing the bread, cut slices and dunk away. Dunking – it's not just for donuts.

Tips & Warnings

• Variations: 1. Put all of the ingredients into the food processor or blender, and you've got gazpacho. 2. Add diced bell pepper and feta cheese, and it's a Greek salad. Serve them both with good, crusty Italian bread.
• The trick to Panzanella is where you cut the vegetables. Do NOT cut them on the counter, where all the juices will slip away. Cut them on a plate or a non-porous cutting board (not wood) so that you can pour the juices into the salad bowl.

Resources

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