Panzanella Salad

Our version of a Classic Panzanella salad is packed with garlicky croutons soaked in an easy vinaigrette and tossed with juicy tomatoes, sweet red onion

Panzanella Salad

It’s incredibly important to me to have a few recipes in my back pocket that are very budget friendly.  After all, I’m a 25 year old, only out of college for four years and let’s just say I’m not rolling in the dough.  I usually still buy expensive ingredients like Parmigiano-Reggiano, good olive oil, and the occasional good cut of meat but some weeks I just can’t stomach to spend more than $50 or so at the grocery store.

Take this week for example: my car payment was due (only three more left!), my car insurance was due, and my rather large credit card bill was also due. All common expenses, but I also just so happened to have added another large expense in there by smashing into my third car in the last two years.  This time it was a brand new Mercedes; last time it was a brand new Lexus. I’m not sure why, but apparently I’m just drawn to hitting expensive luxury cars.    Needless to say it’s going to a tight couple of weeks ahead of me and I need to be frugal in my grocery shopping expenditures.

What is Panzanella Salad?

This recipe is not only a great way to cut back and prepare something inexpensive but it also utilizes the amazing tomatoes that this time of year brings us.  Panzanella was originally what peasants from Florence ate in the summer time in the 16^th century.  Nothing went to waste back then and bread and tomatoes were some of the most accessible ingredients to those that were underprivileged.

Classically, day old bread was soaked in liquid, squeezed, and then combined with tomatoes and a little olive oil and vinegar. Personally, I don’t like to completely submerge the bread in liquid; it just turns into a big soggy mess that isn’t very appealing to the eye and in my opinion, not to the taste buds either.  Instead I like to toast the day old bread cubes to get them a little crispier, toss all of the ingredients together, and then let the whole mixture set for 20 minutes. The bread softens up a little bit but still has that crispy texture that is so delicious with the tomatoes and basil.

If I have some type of cheese already in my fridge like mozzarella or goat cheese (as I did in this instance) then I’ll add it in, if you don’t no biggie, it will be just as tasty.

Ingredients

Tomatoes. Aren’t these heirloom tomatoes gorgeous?  Use all different colors and sizes of tomatoes. The more variety the prettier the salad is going to look! Some of my favorite tomatoes are the craziest looking things that don’t look the most appealing but taste phenomenal further solidfying the age old saying ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover.’

Bread. Any sturdy bread will do. I like ciabatta but sourdough, a French boule or anything similar will work great.

Cheese. A soft cheese is what you want and goat cheese is an obvious choice.

Herbs. There is nothing more classic than tomatoes and basil so that’s what we go with. I also love to use tarragon if I have it on hand.

Vinaigrette. A panzanella salad is all about simplicity so I like to toss it with a classic balsamic vinaigrette. You’ll need: balsamic vinegar, dijon, honey, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Let’s Make Panzanella

Toast the bread. Toss day old bread with a little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about ten minutes.  Just enough time to crisp up a bit.

Chop the tomatoes. Chop them up any which-way you choose, symmetry is not the goal.

Assemble. Toss tomatoes and bread together with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Let set for about 20 minutes or until the bread starts to soften up. Season with salt and pepper.

Top. Sprinkle with goat cheese, basil and red onion if using.