From Wikipedia:
Panzanella or panmolle is a type of Italian dish originating in the regions of Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Lazio. The dish is a bread salad popular in the summer months. It includes sliced bread and fresh tomatoes, flavored with basil, olive oil, and vinegar, often with salt and pepper.
Sometimes thought of as a "leftover salad," additional panzanella ingredients often vary widely, and could include lettuce, white wine, capers, anchovies, celery, carrots, red wine, red onion, cucumber, tuna, parsley, boiled eggs, mint, bell peppers, lemon juice, and garlic.
I made this for the first time the other day, and fell in love. I substituted a little dried basil for the fresh basil and omitted the capers. It was delicious!
Ingredients
- Vinaigrette (recipe below)
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 8 ounces French or Italian bread
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 20 large fresh basil leaves
- 2 large tomatoes
- 1 cucumber
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1/2 medium red onion
- 3 tbsp capers, drained
Vinaigrette
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon finely minced fresh garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Directions
Coarsely chop basil leaves. Cut tomatoes, cucumber, and bell peppers into bite size pieces, onion into thin slices, and drain capers; set aside.
Whisk together all vinaigrette ingredients until well combined, set aside.
In skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-low heat. Add bread and salt and cook 10 minutes, frequently stirring in additional oil, or until bread cubes are browned.
Toss basil, tomatoes, cucumber, bell peppers, onion, and capers into vinaigrette. Add bread cubes and salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately, or refrigerate up to 1 hour.
Serves 12 with 210 calories and 16g fat (2.5g saturated) per serving
August 7th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Wow - my mouth is watering from reading! I love Italian food, and I'm nicknamed Bread Lady for my passion towards bread. Add in basil, and I think I should definitely give this a whirl!
Although the most I would need to make it for is two, not twelve!
If only England used cup measurements! D'oh!
August 7th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
wow, thanks a lot for this recipe! My son is a vegan, and it is like impossible to find anything new to serve him when he visits, and I never would have thought of this, but it sounds and looks fantastic, I am definitely going to make it. Thanks again, I will visit the site again to see what you come up with!
August 7th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Emz, I made it for two, also. I cut it in half hoping that we would be able to eat that much, lol. Boy was I ever wrong! It's very filling, believe it or not.
Patrick, it's definitely good. You made me realize I should have labeled it "Vegan Recipe," too
There are lots of different vegan meals you can make, a good site to check out for lots of recipes is http://www.fatfreevegan.com/
August 8th, 2008 at 4:01 am
Thanks! I can always use new vegetarian/vegan recipes.
August 8th, 2008 at 10:09 am
That looks great. And I already have all the ingredients at home except the bread. I'm definitely going to try it.
Thanks!
August 8th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Yum!! That looks delish! BTW this is a lovely site! Kudos
August 8th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Yum Yum,double Yum!!!! I'm making this tonight, I can't wait...thanks!
August 8th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Kim, I'd like to recommend Fat Free Vegan to you, also
Jan, that's one think that's great about this recipe. A lot of people do already have most of the ingredients necessary, which is how I think the recipe came about!
Chat blanc, thank you! It was very yum
Kim, let me know how it goes!
August 11th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
It looks delicious... I am not vegan but I do enjoy some of the food sometimes... My girlfriend would love that... thanks for the recipe
August 12th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
You
Free Stuff Online said:
You're welcome!
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:40 pm
That looks great. I'm definitely going to try this one out.
Thanks!
Keep them coming