Panzanella is a Tuscan salad made with stale bread, tomatoes, and basil, dressed with oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. It can be customized with vegetables, olives, cheeses, and meats. The bread can be soaked or toasted, and the salad should use fresh, simple ingredients. Wait to add vinegar until serving.
Panzanella is an Italian salad made with stale bread that has been moistened, either pre-soaked or with the vinaigrette with which the salad is dressed. This salad is most commonly found in the Tuscany area, where it is typically served as a summer salad, with garden-fresh ingredients such as tomatoes and cucumbers. Panzanella is easy enough to make at home and is a very flexible salad; any number of things can be added to the salad to make it more interesting or take advantage of locally available ingredients.
A very simple panzanella includes bread, tomatoes and basil, seasoned with a mixture of oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Many cooks also like to add vegetables such as cucumbers, sweet onions and peppers, and panzanella can also include olives, cheeses and meats, depending on personal taste. Using other fresh herbs can also perk up the salad a bit, as can a squeeze of lemon juice.
There are several ways to prepare bread for panzanella and preparing the bread is actually a topic of debate among people to try and make the most authentic version of the salad. Some people argue that the bread should come from a traditional Italian loaf and that it should be cut into thick slices before being soaked in water, squeezed out, and then crumbled. Others think the bread should be diced and toasted in oil, butter, or bacon drippings, while some cooks prefer to tear the bread apart and rub it with flavored oils.
Central to this salad are fresh, seasonally available greens. High quality produce should be used in the panzanella and the flavors and additions should be kept simple enough for a more traditionally Italian version of the salad. With good produce, this salad is flavorful and complex enough on its own, and the slices of bread can be used to soak up the juices. Too many ingredients can overshadow the naturally simple flavor of panzanella.
If you’re making the panzanella and plan to serve it later, wait until you add the vinegar. Acidity can make vegetables slightly acidic, taking away from the flavor of the salad. To take the salad on a picnic, you can put the ingredients and vinaigrette separately and throw them together at the picnic site; this will keep the salad from getting soggy or soggy.
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