Father's Day

Panzanella

August 18, 2009
0
0 Ratings
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

This Italian bread salad is a good way to use up day (or even two-day) old bread. Make sure to ask your local farmer about their practices and method to deal with late blight. Personally, it's worth it to spend a little more to ensure chemical-free tomatoes (I found some for only $2.50 a pound at Alex Farms, a vendor at the Carroll Gardens' Greenmarket). —Jennifer Perillo

Continue After Advertisement
Ingredients
  • 4 1/2-inch thick slices of stale ciabatta or other stale crusty bread
  • 3 medium-large tomatoes, coarsely chopped
  • 3 ounces fresh mozzarella, diced
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
  • handful of fresh basil leaves
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Cut bread into cubes and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until toasted and golden, about 5 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, add tomatoes and mozzarella to a medium bowl. Pour in oil and vinegar and toss to coat well. Season with salt and pepper. Tear basil leaves (or slice into a chiffonade if you want to show off your knife skills) and toss with tomato mixture. Let sit 10 minutes to release juices and let flavors marinate.
  3. Add bread cubes to the tomato salad. Toss well and let stand to soak up juices, just a minute or two tops. Evenly divide onto four plates and serve immediately.
Contest Entries

See what other Food52ers are saying.

Jennifer Perillo is the Consulting Food Editor at Working Mother magazine, and a regular a contributor to Relish Magazine and FoodNetwork.com. She shares stories about food, family and life at her blog In Jennie's Kitchen and in her debut cookbook, Homemade with Love: Simple Scratch Cooking from In Jennie's Kitchen (Running Press 2013).

1 Review

zahavah August 20, 2009
I love panzanella, especially in the summer when my baguettes (and other breads) go stale quickly. I've never added mozerella, but it's a great option!