Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Panzanella Salad in Tuscany

Seeing this picture reminds me of the great tomato dishes we had in Italy. The panzanella salads are unbelievably good. So good that I think I'll make one for dinner tonight. For the vegetarians, this is a great main course meal!

According to my food dictionary, panzanella is an Italian bread salad made with the ingredients as listed in the following recipe.

One variation is to brown the bread in olive oil before adding it to the salad. Make that garlic-infused olive oil for me...now, that sounds really tasty! Use the best tomatoes you can find!

Here's my recipe
PANZANELLA
Salad:
1 cup firm Italian bread cubes
1 pkg (8 oz) fresh mozzarella cheese, cut in cubes
2 cups chopped tomatoes (or more)
1 cup chopped English cucumbers
1/3 cup chopped sweet onion
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk dressing ingredients together and drizzle over salad. Garnish with olives, if desired. Serve immediately.

I always change the ingredients to suit my whims. I may combine different types of tomatoes. This is very attractive when yellow and red tomatoes are combined. Use more or less of the ingredients based on your own tastes. Enjoy!



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