Yes, there is something you can make with leftover stale bread besides breadcrumbs! If you’ve never had panzanella before, you should make it next time you have a big chunk or two of leftover bread. This is what Italians do with leftover bread, so you know it must be good!
What is panzanella?
Panzanella is an Italian bread and tomato salad. It’s a summer salad though because you want to make it when the tomatoes are in season, ripe, and flavorful. Some people refer to panzanella as a Tuscan bread salad because it’s served often in this region and the Tuscan bread, which is unsalted and has a very dense texture, holds up nicely in this traditional side dish.
How to make panzanella
This salad is so easy to make and the ingredients are simple. Just like any other salad (except this one doesn’t have any lettuce), there isn’t an exact recipe. The amount of salad you make will depend on how much leftover stale bread you have to use. The other ingredients, the tomatoes, the cucumbers, and the red onion will balance out the bread.
Make this salad for your friends. Not only will they think it’s delicious, but they will be happy to know how to use up their own stale bread so it isn’t wasted.
Let’s get started
1. Soak some stale bread.
The kind of bread that works well in panzanella is dense artisan bread. By that, I mean bread that is homemade, made in a bakery, or a good dense loaf (usually sold in a paper sleeve) from the grocery store. A bakery near me sells a Pane Toscano loaf, and a loaf of sourdough is another example of good bread to use. You do not want to use soft bread like challah or French bread.
My husband actually made this loaf. It was enormous!
Good dense artisan bread, or in my case a homemade one, is the kind of loaf that you usually can’t finish before it starts getting hard. We’ve all been there! There are always those hard pieces of leftover bread and now you can try making this salad with it!
For the salad, you’ll need to soften the bread. You do this by soaking the bread in a bowl of water with a couple of tablespoons of red wine vinegar added. Soaking time can vary slightly.
After 2 minutes, check the bread. The water will be absorbed. It will feel soft with the crust feeling a bit firmer.
Take the bread out of the water and with your hands, squeeze as much water out of the bread as you can, like you are squeezing a sponge dry.
After squeezing out the excess water, break the bread up in a bowl.
If you’ve not had authentic panzanella, this step may seem a bit unusual for a salad. In restaurants or even in some cookbooks, I’ve seen panzanella made with lots of croutons or toasted bread. Although this will probably taste good, this is not how panzanella is made in Italy.
Panzanella serves a purpose. It’s how to use up your stale bread! Italians don’t waste a thing in the kitchen!
2. Chop up some tomatoes.
Tomatoes are a must in this salad. It’s important that the tomatoes used in the panzanella are in season. In other words, this a summer salad because it’s when tomatoes taste their best! You can use any kind of tomato for the salad. Sometimes I like to use several varieties because they look pretty.
For the salad, chop the tomatoes into bite-size pieces.
3. Chop up some cucumber.
Peel and chop up the cucumber into bite-size pieces. I prefer to use English cucumbers because they don’t have as many seeds. If I don’t have one, a regular garden variety will do, but be sure to both peel and also deseed it. The seeds in these tend to be big and watery.
4. Slice up some red onion.
I like to slice the red onion into half-moon pieces. If the red onion you are cutting has a strong flavor, try soaking the slices in ice water for 20 minutes or so. This will help reduce that strong flavor and keep the onion slices nice and crisp. Just be sure to drain them well before adding them to the salad.
5. Toss the bread, tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion together in a bowl.
6. Dress the salad with extra-virgin olive and vinegar.
It’s really important to use extra-virgin olive oil and a high-quality one at that. For the vinegar, I usually use red wine vinegar, but white balsamic is good too.
There is no exact amount of how much to use for your dressing. It’s a personal preference. A good hearty drizzle of good-tasting extra-virgin olive oil and some splashes of vinegar to taste let’s say. You’ve most likely made a salad before and had to dress it!
Toss everything together and add salt and pepper to taste
7. Add some fresh basil.
For the finishing touch, add fresh basil leaves. I usually add quite a few. If the leaves a small, just add them in whole. Tear them in half if they are large, and then lightly toss the salad again.
I always do this last because the basil will start turning brown. It still tastes good though. Do not leave the basil out, it’s an important ingredient for the salad’s flavor.
What to serve with panzanella
Panzanella is not just a side dish. It’s a nice meal to serve by itself as a lunch or light dinner on a warm summer day. Often, panzanella is served with a main dish such as meat or fish.
If you follow a plant-based diet, a platter of grilled veggies, a side of beans, or even a plant-based sausage is really good!
Buon Appetito!
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