This colorful summer panzanella recipe is a classic Italian bread salad, with crusty bread, ripe tomatoes, bell peppers, and fresh basil. It comes together in 25 minutes!
Here’s a perfect salad recipe for when tomatoes and peppers are in their prime: panzanella! Panzanella is an Italian bread salad, and it’s truly everything summer.
Ripe tomatoes, bell peppers, fresh basil and garlic are mixed with crunchy bread cubes and a tangy vinaigrette, and it makes the best taste treat. My, oh my, it’s a family favorite in our house! The bread drinks in that tomato juice and the vinaigrette, and turns chewy-crisp-savory in a way that is absolutely irresistible (in my opinion, but I think you’ll agree).
What Is Panzanella?
Panzanella is an Italian bread salad that combines dried, crusty bread squares with fresh vegetables and a vinaigrette. It’s a great idea for using up old bread, and extraordinarily delicious.
You can use any fresh veggies you have on hand. The traditional vegetables used in a panzanella recipe are tomatoes, peppers, red onion, and sometime cucumber. My version of a panzanella looks even more vibrant than most because I like to use multi-colored cherry tomatoes and three colors of bell peppers.
Ingredients You’ll Need
With simple Italian recipes, ingredient quality is key. Here’s what you’ll need here:
- Bread: It’s ideal to use a sturdy artisan-style loaf: do not use a squishy store-bought white or wheat loaf here. Good options are sourdough bread, ciabatta, a homemade no knead bread, or a rustic country loaf. Day-old bread is actually ideal, but fresh works if you toast it a little longer. A homemade focaccia also makes an excellent version.
- Cherry tomatoes: It’s best to buy ripe, in season cherry tomatoes for this one. If it’s not tomato season, you can find tomatoes grown in a greenhouse (hydroponic) at the grocery store that have great flavor. You’ll want the highest in quality of cherry tomatoes for this recipe to shine! If you can buy local or grow them yourself, even better!
- Bell peppers and red onion: One pepper each of yellow, red, and green, plus thinly sliced red onion.
- Basil: Fresh basil is a must for its beautiful aromatic flavor! It’s is easy to grow at home, and it’s very hardy as long as you place it in full sun. If you’re looking to grow your own basil plant, I have a step by step guide here: How to Grow Basil.
- Sherry or red wine vinegar, olive oil, and garlic: Sherry vinegar has a depth I love, but red wine vinegar is the classic Italian choice and works well too. Use a good extra-virgin olive oil.
How to Make Panzanella
Every time I find some multi-colored cherry tomatoes and bell peppers at my local farmers market (or if I’m lucky enough to have them in my garden), I love making this panzanella recipe. Here are the basic steps on how to make panzanella (see below for the full quantities):
- Toast the bread cubes: Cut bread into cubes and toss it with olive oil and black pepper. Roast the cubes for about 7 minutes at 450 degrees until they’re golden brown.
- Chop the vegetables: Chop the vegetables into bite-sized pieces. Here we used multi-colored cherry tomatoes and bell peppers, and thinly sliced red onions.
- Make the vinaigrette: Mix up a simple vinaigrette: ours uses olive oil, sherry vinegar, and minced garlic.
- Mix together and allow to stand: Mix all the ingredients together and let them stand for at least 15 minutes, so that all the flavors can meld. Then the salad is best served immediately. As expected, the bread becomes soggy over time, so leftovers aren’t the best. Try to eat it the day it’s made! (To make it in advance, keep all the components separate before serving.
Flavor Variations
You can actually make so many different variations on this theme (I even have a Spring Panzanella in one of my cookbooks with peas and feta!).
- Add cucumber: Peeled, seeded, and diced. It’s also a traditional addition.
- Cheese: It’s not in the traditional version, but you could add torn mozzarella or burrata cheese.
- Go Greek: Add feta, olives, and oregano, and a Greek salad dressing.
What to Serve With Panzanella
This is a natural partner for anything off the grill, or a summer side dish for any meal outside. Here are a few ideas:
- Grilled chicken or grilled salmon
- Grilled veggie kabobs or other grilled side dishes
- Alongside a spread of Italian side dishes for a summer dinner party
- With a dense bean salad or Mediterranean chickpea salad and a bowl of olives for an easy antipasto-style meal
Storage and Make Ahead
Panzanella is best eaten within 1 to 2 hours of making it. The next day the bread will be completely soggy, so it’s not really a leftovers situation.
To make it ahead, you can toast the bread cubes up to 2 days in advance and store them airtight at room temperature. Then combine everything just before serving.
Dietary Notes
This panzanella recipe is vegetarian and vegan.
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s a compound of the word “pane”, meaning bread, and “zanella”, a deep bowl or basin. Functionally: bread salad.
Tuscany, though similar bread salads appear across Italy. It’s traditionally a summer dish built around peak tomatoes.
A crusty, open-crumbed artisan loaf: sourdough, ciabatta, or rustic Italian. Day-old is best.
No. The bread should be softened and flavorful but still have chew. If it’s mushy, it either sat too long or the bread wasn’t sturdy enough.
No. You can prep the bread 1 to 2 days ahead, but I would assemble 15 minutes before serving.
Easy Panzanella Recipe
Pin RecipeThis colorful summer panzanella recipe is a classic Italian bread salad, with crusty bread, ripe tomatoes, bell peppers, and fresh basil. It comes together in 25 minutes!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 to 6 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 3 cups artisan-style bread, cut into cubes (see Notes)
- ¼ cup olive oil, divided
- 1 pint multi-colored cherry tomatoes
- 3 bell peppers (one each yellow, red, green)
- ½ red onion
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tablespoon thinly sliced basil leaves
- 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
- Kosher salt
- Fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F.
- Slice the bread into cubes. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the cubes with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper. Spread in a single layer and bake until golden brown, about 7 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Dice the bell peppers. Thinly slice the red onion. Mince the garlic. Thinly slice the basil (chiffonade).
- In a medium bowl, combine the sherry vinegar, and garlic. Gradually whisk in 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon at a time, until a creamy emulsion forms. Season with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper.
- In a large bowl, combine the chopped vegetables, dressing, basil, and toasted bread. (If making in advance, add the toasted bread last to avoid becoming soggy.) Allow to stand about 15 minutes for the flavors to meld, then serve immediately. (Leftovers are delicious, but the bread becomes soggy after a few hours.)
Notes
For the bread: It’s ideal to use a sturdy artisan-style loaf: do not use a squishy store-bought white or wheat loaf here. Good options are sourdough bread, ciabatta, a homemade no knead bread, or a rustic country loaf. Day-old bread is actually ideal, but fresh works if you toast it a little longer. A homemade focaccia also makes an excellent version.
from A Couple Cooks https://ift.tt/xZqz75l
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