I had a lot of Anna Olson’s stunning focaccia leftover and wanted to make a panzanella salad which is an Italian bread salad. I thought the two were a perfect match and had the most gorgeous heirloom tomato just waiting for me to use it in such a special dish.
The following is a recipe for two small salads or one mega one.
The Recipe
You can tear apart any stale bread for this recipe but I cut mine into cubes. I also wanted it to have some crunchy texture so I put them on a baking tray and toasted them in a 350F oven for about 15 minutes.
You will also need some chopped red onion, 1 chopped tomato, a bit of chopped parsley and 1 chopped bell pepper.
Because I baked the bread for a bit I should have added the dressing to it first. Live and learn!
Put everything together in a large bowl.
For the dressing whisk together 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil, 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 tsp anchovy paste (or Worcestershire sauce), 1 crushed garlic clove and the juice of half a lemon.
Pour over the salad.
I mixed everything together with my hands. You really want the bread to soak up that dressing.
Foodie Results
Stunning!!! OK, it would have been a bit better had the bread gotten more of the dressing but still, damn, super tasty!
A filling salad that you could add protein to in order to make it a meal. I will be making this again.
It is so wonderful to see all those brilliant colours in dreary November. This is what I call food therapy.
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Wow, this looks delicious, Suzie! My mouth is watering!
Thank you Jamie!!! It’s so yummy, you would love it. 🙂
I’ve never had a salad with bread in it, other than the croutons in a Caesar salad. This looks really interesting! Love the photos!
Joan, it is quite a unique foodie experience and the bread just soaks up the dressing. Thank you! I am photographing out on my deck now that the dark season is here. Glad you liked the photos.