Friday, May 1, 2009

Panzanella Salad, Not Baseball.



I had a baguette sitting out on my kitchen counter for several days. The thing was rock hard, and it was either play baseball with it, or make panzanella salad. I chose the salad. It’s still too cold out for baseball.

Salad
1/3 of a red onion, thinly sliced
3 to 4 very ripe tomatoes, cut into bite sized chunks
2/3 cup marinated artichoke hearts, roughly chopped
2 to 3 handfuls of basil leaves, torn into pieces
3 red mini peppers, lightly grilled and cut into rings
3 yellow mini bell peppers, lightly grilled and cut into rings
1 (8 ounce) very stale baguette
Salt & fresh cracked pepper to taste

Dressing
2 tablespoon capers drained and rinsed
1 Tablespoon anchovy paste
1 to 2 cloves of garlic
½ cup good quality red wine vinegar
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
A handful of basil leaves

1. Break up the bread into large bite size chunks and place in a large bowl. Top with the rest of the salad ingredients, except salt & pepper.

2. In a small food processor add all the dressing ingredients. Process until smooth.

3. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and let set for 15 to 20 minutes. Add more olive oil or vinegar if the salad is too dry. Add salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.

Notes: For faster prep, use roasted bell peppers from a jar instead of grilling your own.

Serves 4 to 5.

Recipe by Laura Flowers


10 comments:

Mary Bergfeld said...

Panzenella is such a lovely way to keep bread from going to waste. I love your take on the recipe.

The Cooking Photographer said...

Thank-you Mary.

Creative Classroom Core said...

I was hunting around for a good salad recipe for my mother in law, and was so happy to come across this post. This salad look incredible! Love the baseball comments as well :)

Creative Classroom Core said...

Hello again!

I just added you to the "Blog's to Check Out" section of my blog. Love your stuff!

Coleens Recipes said...

This sounds so delicious! What an excellent recipe.

The Cooking Photographer said...

Cool, I was looking at those on your page! Thank-you finsmom.

Karen said...

Mmm, love panzanella. Great idea with the anchovy paste and capers in the viniagrette!

Cookie said...

What a great way to make use of stale bread! We always have half a loaf laying around getting too hard to chew.

Melissa said...

Panzanella vs. baseball? Hmmmm let me think about that.

I haven't made, or even ever eaten, a salad like this yet but have seen it done many times and want to try it. Your dressing sounds wonderfully savory.

Ginger said...

Laura this salad looks incredible!! My family would love it. It is too cold here (cincinnati, ohio) for baseball, boating etc...

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