Summer Panzanella
Juicy tomatoes, crisp-chewy bread, cucumber and mozzarella soaked in a tomato vinaigrette. The salad that's secretly about bread.
Ingredients
- 1 lbripe tomatoescut into wedges
- 6 ozday-old country breadtorn into pieces
- 1English cucumbersliced
- 1small red onionthinly sliced
- 1 bunchbasilleaves picked
- 3 tbspred wine vinegar
- 5 tbspolive oil
- 4 ozmozzarellatorn
Instructions
- Toss the tomato wedges with a generous pinch of salt and let them sit for 20 minutes to release their juice. Don't throw out the juice. The juice is the dressing.
- Meanwhile, toast the torn bread in a dry skillet or a 400°F oven until the edges are crisp but the centers are still chewy.
- Soak the sliced onion in cold water for 10 minutes, then drain. It takes the bite out, so the onion stops shouting.
- Whisk the vinegar and olive oil into the tomato juice.
- Combine the bread, tomatoes, cucumber, onion and dressing, and let it sit 10 minutes so the bread soaks it up.
- Fold in the basil and mozzarella just before serving.
Kitchen's closed Panzanella doesn't keep. Make what you'll eat tonight and accept that soggy bread is a tomorrow problem.