What is panzanella? Picture all the best things about a salad: the cheese, the croutons, the dressing, something savory…imagine they decided to have a super bowl party and not invite the persnickety vegetables. Voila. That’s a panzanella. It’s absolutely brilliant.
Thankfully, Italian people have already made this discovery of removing all the healthy things from a salad and stamped their approval on it, so, similar to gelato, I feel guilt-free about it. Italian people know how to eat.
I did a panzanella recipe last year, but this one is Version 2.0 and was inspired, in part, by that tik-tok pasta. The original caprese panzanella was fresh tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, and toasted bread with a simple vinaigrette. However, I am on a massive roasted tomatoes kick, so I had to incorporate them. While I was at it, I also seasoned the bread into croutons. I know, ultra healthy. This is honestly like the summer version of stuffing.
How to make the croutons
To reiterate, regular panzanella has just toasted bread. I one-upped that to seasoned and oiled bread that is then toasted. This is colloquially referred to as: a crouton.
As with roasted vegetables, I toss the cubed bread in oil, salt, parsley, and garlic powder in a bowl and then arranged them on a pan. I used to season straight on the pan, but I like the bowl method better. It makes it a lot easier to get an even distribution of seasonings and oil on each cube. Then bake at 375F for 25 minutes or until completely dried out.
I had about a half loaf of sourdough bread and a half loaf of whole wheat that I cubed. If you’re aiming to go a little healthier, there are so many excellent multi-grain breads to choose from!
A word of caution: you’ll have to put up a fight to resist eating all of the croutons that are fresh out of the oven. These are complex carbohydrates, folks, and they will take you down if you let them.
How to roast tomatoes
I did a post a while ago on how to roast tomatoes, so I’ll just do a brief recap here. Grab a pound of tomatoes and slice them. If you’re using cherry tomatoes, just in half is fine. Bigger tomatoes, slice them about a quarter inch thick. Sprinkle with salt and sugar. Drizzle with EVOO and balsamic vinegar. Bake 350 for 30 minutes.
So beautiful.
As a side plug for roasted tomatoes, they go with so many things!!!! Brie-L-T sandwiches, in omelets, or in pastas or salads to name a few.
Panzanella Accoutrements
Toasty bread and tomatoes are molto bene, but add fresh basil and mozzarella and you are in hog heaven. I suppose that’s another way of looking at panzanella: it’s one giant hog pile of delicious ingredients.
Anyway, this is my basil plant, Hayden. He’s looking at something on the ground, I think.
Now I am not huge on a strong basil flavor so I just use a handful, but utilize fresh herbs as you desire. I’m not eating your panzanella; you are!
There is one thing I am a huge fan of, though, and that’s fresh mozzarella cheese. I love Trader Joe’s pre-sliced mozzarella logs.
By the way, panzanella tip: this recipe requires one pound of bread (a loaf), one pound of tomatoes, and one pound of mozzarella. It’s like a pound cake of a salad!
And probably equivalent in nutritional value…
Ultimate Salad Dressing
This is an Ina Garten recipe and honestly is the most perfectly ratio-ed salad dressing ever. It’s 1/3 cup olive oil, 3 tbsp red wine vinegar, and 1 1/2 tbsp mustard. You can translate into any other salad dressing you want. For example, an asian dressing could be 1/3 cup sesame seed oil, 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar, and 1 1/2 tbsp peanut butter.
You simply need some oil and acid with an emulsifier. Acids can be citrus juices or vinegars, and emulsifiers can be mustards, mayo, tahini, or nut butters! Plus a little S&P.
Panzanella, Assemble!
Here’s the good part. Grab your biggest bowl and combine all of the ingredients. Another panzanella tip for you: salad dressing makes things soggy, so wait to add it until it’s time to serve. Alternatively, if you’re serving this for a gathering, allow guests to add their own dressing.
And there you have it. An overly photographed, over-explained blog post for a salad. Albeit, a sort of naughty salad that is actually more like a summer stuffing and might need a bit of explanation, but…oh, well. It’s as good as it looks, I promise. You will stand over this bowl with a fork and inhale it when no one is looking.
Panzanella 2.0: The Naughty Salad
Ingredients
Croutons
- 1 lb Bread loaf cut into 1" cubes
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Garlic powder optional
Roasted Tomatoes
- 1 lb Tomatoes sliced between 1/4"-1/2" thick
- Extra virgin olive oil
- White sugar
- Kosher salt
- Balsamic vinegar
Dressing
- 1/3 cup Extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp Red wine vinegar
- 1½ tbsp Düsseldorf style mustard
- Salt and pepper
Other Ingredients
- Bunch Basil
- 1 lb Mozzarella cut into 1/2" x 1/2" x 1/4" pieces
Instructions
Make croutons
- Preheat oven to 375°F / 190°C.
- Combine cubed bread in a large bowl. Drizzle generously with extra virgin olive oil, about 1/4-1/3 cup. Sprinkle with salt and garlic powder, if using. Toss with hands to ensure each bread cube has oil on it.
- Spread bread cubes onto two baking sheets. Do not stack or overlap pieces.
- Bake both pans for 25 minutes. Allow to cool on pan.
Roast tomatoes
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
- Arrange tomatoes on baking pan without overlap or stacking. Sprinkle with salt and sugar. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until tomatoes are blistering. Allow to cool in pan.
Prepare dressing
- In a one-cup liquid measuring cup combine olive oil, vinegar, and mustard. Add salt and pepper as desired. Whisk until a smooth consistency.
Assemble Panzanella Salad
- In a large serving bowl combine croutons, roasted tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil. Toss to make homogenous, or leave layered for a nice presentation.
- Serve with dressing on the side if it will not all be eaten in one setting. Otherwise, toss with dressing and serve immediately. Panzanella will keep for about 3 days, but the croutons will become soggy after the first day.