Ingredients for Panzanella

If you are dreaming of Italy and summer flavors, than Panzanella, a Tuscan tomato and bread salad is what you wish.  It is made with the lush ripe tomatoes of summer, bread, onion and cucumber.  The flavors harmonize into a delectable dish.  There are many origin stories.  Some people believe that it is named after the Florentine Duke Alfio Panzanella.  Others believe it was first mentioned by the 16th century Tuscan poet Bronzino, he praised the flavors of onions served with bread.  The dish evokes the light and rolling hills of Tuscany, the warmth and reddish tones of the buildings of Florence, and the bounty of the surrounding farms.

 

Until the 20th century, Panzanella, often known as Italian tomato and bread salad, recipes were based on onions rather than tomatoes.  However, this dish is best made with flavorful summer tomatoes that can be chopped into bite size pieces. If you can find heirloom tomatoes, a mix of colors will create a lovely looking plate.

 

Tuscany is full of adaptations of this fulfilling summer recipe. Interestingly the dish is also found throughout Sicily. Giuliano adapts his from his mother, Marcella Hazan. She added capers which are a favorite in Sicilian cooking and grow well there.   Panzanella is a classic Tuscan tomato and bread salad that sometimes seems to easy and improbable to be as wonderful as it is.

 

Panzanella

(Adapted from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan)

Serves 4 people

2 cups good Italian bread trimmed of its crust

1/2 sweet red onion, very thinly sliced crosswise

1 pound ripe, firm flavorful tomatoes, cut into cubes about 1/2 ” thick

1/2 seedless English cucumber, sliced about 1/8″ thick

1 small garlic clove

3 anchovy fillets

1 tablespoon capers

1 tablespoon good red wine vinegar

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

 

  1. Place the bread in a bowl and cover with cold water. Allow to soak for about 20 minutes.

 

  1. Put the sliced onion in another bowl and cover with cold water. Allow to soak for about 20 minutes.

 

  1. Put the garlic, anchovies, capers and vinegar in a food processor and chop until smooth.Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl.  Add the olive oil, season with salt and pepper and mix well.

 

  1. Place the tomatoes and cucumbers in a salad bowl.  Lift the bread out of the water and squeeze all the water out with your hands.  Crumble the bread into the salad bowl.  Take the onion out of the water and squeeze lightly.  Add to the bowl.  Add the dressing, toss well, and serve.