A few years ago I use to work in a cafe and was know as the salad lady. Each day I would come into work and head straight for the kitchen. Fruit and veg would come in daily due to our lack of storage. Which also meant that our salads were fresh everyday, just how I like them. I had a few salads that would sell out in a flash, while others were staff favourites. One of my personal favourites back then was the panzanella salad made with sourdough bread giving it a tang. Panzanella originates from Italy where they use stale bread and not letting anything go to waste. The toasted bread soaks up the juices from the tomatoes, oil and vinegar. Yet still keeping the crunch it is a perfect addition to the table.
Panzanella Salad – Recipe
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Lizzie Moult
Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 4 slices of stale sourdough
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely diced
- 250gm tomatoes, roughly chopped (roma, cheery, sweet-bite)
- Pinch of salt
- ¼ red onion, finely sliced
- 2 tsp capers, roughly chopped,
- Handful of rocket
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
- 3 tbsp olive oil – dressing
- 4 tbsp balsamic vinegar – dressing
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 180’c. Cut the sourdough roughly into 1.5cm squares and scatter on to a baking tray. Spread them out making sure that they are not sitting on top of each other. Combine the olive oil, butter and half of the chopped garlic in a cup, stir to combine. Drizzle over the bread and lightly give it a mix. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, stirring to evenly coat the bread. Bake for a further 10 minutes or until the bread is crispy and golden.
- In the meantime, get a large mixing bowl. Place the remaining garlic along with the tomatoes and sprinkle with salt. Allow the tomatoes to sit for 5 minutes. Then add the onion and capers to the tomato mixture.
- Once the bread has cooled, add it to the tomato mixture. Using your hands to mix the tomato through the bread, add the rocket and parsley. The bread should absorb most of the liquid from the tomatoes.
- Dish up the salad into a serving bowl and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Notes
You can add cucumber, olives or basil to the dish
