Make Ahead
Tomato Confit and Kimchi Panzanella
- Prep time 30 minutes
- Cook time 45 minutes
- Serves 4
Author Notes
This take on panzanella has an intensified tomato aroma, thanks to tomato confit, and unique depth of flavor from kimchi. Ever since I became a frequent visitor at a local farmers market, making a big batch of tomato confit with ripe, juicy tomatoes became my summer ritual. The fragrant tomato olive oil is really special, and I love how it can add depth of flavor to any dish in no time. It turns otherwise an ordinary dish into something truly flavorful. The dish was also inspired by a salad at Yangban Society, a Korean American restaurant in Los Angeles, where I used to work at. Their salad was made with cubed, fried kimchi focaccia and greens. Tomato and kimchi go well together in many dishes, and I believe panzanella is no exception. Tomato confit elevates a classic panzanella, and kimchi brings such a nice twist to it.
Make sure you let panzanella rest for at least 30 minutes before serving so toasted sourdough cubes can soak up all the amazing tomato flavored olive oil from confit and kimchi juice! —Arisa Slutsky
- Your Best Summer Salad Contest Winner
Ingredients
- Cherry tomato confit
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1 pint
red and orange cherry tomatoes, stemmed
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1 cup
extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed
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2
smashed garlic cloves
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1 teaspoon
kosher salt
- Panzanella
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10 ounces
sourdough, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
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2 tablespoons
extra-virgin olive oil
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10 ounces
kimchi, thinly sliced, and its juice
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1
minced garlic clove
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1
minced small shallot
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1 tablespoon
Dijion mustard
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3 tablespoons
champagne, sherry or white wine vinegar
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kosher salt
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freshly ground black pepper
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1 pound
ripe tomatoes, preferably a mix of varieties and colors, cut into bite-size
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2
celery stalks, thinly sliced
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1/3
red onion, thinly sliced
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20
torn basil leaves
Directions
- Cherry tomato confit
- Preheat oven to 350F. Place tomatoes in a single layer in a small baking dish. Pour olive oil and add garlic and salt. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes until tomatoes and oil are fragrant. Let cool.
- Note: It is ideal to make cherry tomato confit ahead of time. That way, it has a chance to completely cool to make panzanella. You can even double or triple the confit recipe and use for other dishes later, which I did! If you make ahead of time, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator, tomatoes completely submerged with the cooking olive oil. It is good up to two weeks. Take tomato confit out of the refrigerator to bring up to room temperature when you are ready to make panzanella. You can, of course, use bigger size tomatoes in confit instead. Cherry tomato confit takes less time to make, and I enjoy how delicate and sweet cherry tomatoes are in the confit!
- Panzanella
- Preheat oven to 375F. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss bread cubes with olive oil. Bake about 15 minutes, until dried out and slightly browned. Let cool.
- For the vinaigrette, add kimchi juice, garlic, shallot, mustard, and vinegar in a small bowl. Whisk 1/2 cup olive oil from confit. Season the vinaigrette to taste with salt and pepper.
- In a large bowl, add bread, tomatoes from confit, fresh tomato, kimchi, celery, and red onion, and basil. Toss with the vinaigrette and season liberally with salt and pepper. Let rest for at least 30 minutes at room temperature before serving. Toss with more olive oil from confit, salt, and basil as needed.
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