Italian Bread Salad (Panzanella)

Name: Italian Bread Salad (Panzanella)
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: Serves 6
Ingredients: 1 pound stale country bread or baguette, cut in thick slices; 1 small red onion, sliced very thin; Cold water; 1 pound ripe tomatoes, chopped; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil; 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley; 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar (more to taste); 1 large garlic clove, minced or crushed in a mortar and pestle; Salt and freshly ground pepper; 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

By Martha Rose Shulman

Total Time: About 30 minutes, plus 1 hour's refrigeration
Rating: 4(267)
Comments: Read comments

Like so many Mediterranean bread salads, stale bread is combined here with red onion and tomato and dressed with vinegar and olive oil. It’s like a bread salad version of gazpacho.

Featured in: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/health/nutrition/08recipehealth.html

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Ingredients

Yield:Serves 6

1pound stale country bread or baguette, cut in thick slices
1small red onion, sliced very thin
Cold water
1pound ripe tomatoes, chopped
2tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
2tablespoons red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar (more to taste)
1large garlic clove, minced or crushed in a mortar and pestle
Salt and freshly ground pepper
¼cup extra virgin olive oil

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
If your bread is very hard, douse it with water first and saw it into a few pieces that will fit into a medium bowl. Cover with the onions. Pour on cold water to cover and let sit for 20 minutes. Lift the onions off the bread and rinse in a strainer. Drain the bread, squeeze out excess water and crumble the bread into a salad bowl.
Step 2
Add the tomatoes, basil, and parsley to the bowl. Mix together the vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil, and toss with the bread mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or longer before serving.

Ratings

4 out of 5

267 user ratings

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Comments

Mary7 years ago

I crisp up the bread in a pan with olive oil and rub each piece with garlic clove. Then omit the garlic from the rest of the dish. Add good kalamata olives and some Parmesan and we're good.

Bicka4 years ago

I use this as a base recipe and as many others do, instead of soaking the bread in water, I toast the bread and then allow them to absorb the dressing and juice from the tomatoes. Sometimes I add black olives or capers. Last night I had an avocado that was just perfect, so I threw that in as well. For those who don't like raw onion, soaking in ice water helps remove some of the sharpest flavor. You can also add a touch of vinegar to the ice water to further reduce the sharpness.

Richard7 years ago

If the bread is saturated with cold water, it doesn't seem to me that it will absorb the yummy tomato juice. And cold tomatoes have no flavor!

Welsh Hills11 months ago

I followed the recipe to a “t” and ended up with bland, inedible mess. Highly recommend not soaking the bread in water! I will be seeking another version of this recipe.

Cheri G11 months ago

Delicious exactly as written, BUT, agree with the comment about not refrigerating. No serious cook would refrigerate tomatoes!

MPS1 year ago

Used the suggestions here to run bread slices with garlic and bake for a few minutes. Significantly reduced the amount of red wine vinegar. This was fabulous on a summer night.

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