Golden Toasted Panzanella

Our Food Editor Christine is making some magic with this hearty Italian salad. Sign us up! 

I spent some time housesitting this summer in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts. Not only is it gorgeously picturesque with lovely New England towns, clear rivers, and beautiful mountains, it is also a great place to eat! Farmers markets, farm stands (many of them are “honor system” stands), CSAs, and backyard gardens are there for those of us who like to cook when we travel and great little restaurants who use the produce and meat from local farms are everywhere for the diner who likes to be fed when they travel. 

It was such a treat to have the garden at the house where I was staying- squashes and greens, herbs, carrots, beets, lettuces, chard, and a long raspberry hedge full of juicy garnet berries. I would go to a nearby farmstand for a couple of ears of corn, maybe some sweet red onions, some farm eggs, grab a crusty loaf of bread and some cheese at the farmers market and cook to my heart’s content.

 The day I would buy bread, bruschetta was on the menu- one of my favorite summer foods. A day or so later, when the bread started to get a little chewy and stale, I’d make panzanella, an Italian bread salad. Very similar in flavor to bruschetta, panzanella turns the slightly stale bread into little sponges for delicious tomato flavor. There are a lot of variations on this recipe, but I have added a couple of my own little twists on a basic version. First, I add a little texture. Texture is so important to me in a dish! When everything is either soft or crisp, I feel like the sparkle of flavor gets lost, but when there are layers of both texture and flavor, it gives you mouth a lot of things to keep it interested. So, to give this salad a little crunch, I toast or fry the bread cubes in olive oil before tossing them in their dressing. The golden toasted bread and the olive oil add a delicious richness that is irresistible. The second little twist is to add nice sharp red wine vinegar to the tomato juice dressing. Most tomatoes now tend to be sweet (unless you find a high acid heirloom tomato) and I miss the zing of acid that makes a vinaigrette salad dressing so good. Adding a little red wine vinegar makes all of the flavors in this salad pop.

GOLDEN TOASTED PANZANELLA

 20 minutes prep

 Serves 4-6

2 cups juicy tomatoes, cubed (cherry tomatoes, cut in half, work well too)

Salt (a flaky sea salt or Kosher salt gives a nice crunch)

2 cups crusty bread cubes (a “rustic” style bread works best)

About 1/3 cup olive oil

Basil leaves, torn or sliced into ribbons

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Fresh black pepper

Put the chunks of tomato into a large mixing bowl and salt generously. The salt will make them release a lot of juice, which will form the “dressing” for the bread.

In a large flat-bottomed skillet, heat a good drizzle of olive oil over medium heat. When the oil becomes fragrant, add as many of the bread cubes as will fit in a single layer. Allow the bread to fry until golden brown in the oil and then stir and turn to toast the other sides. It’s not important for every side of the bread to be toasted but I like it on the golden brown and crunchy side so I usually try to get as many sides toasted as I can. Add a little more oil if needed. Repeat with any remaining bread cubes and remove the pan from the heat when all the bread is done.

In the mixing bowl, scoop the tomatoes to one side and then mix about 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar into the tomato juice. Toss the basil into the tomato and then toss the warm bread cubes with the tomatoes. Sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

Allow the bread to soak up some of the dressing for 10 minutes or so before serving. This salad is best at room temperature so if you have leftovers, let it warm up a little from the refrigerator before serving again.

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