Panzanella is a Tuscan salad consisting of chunks of soaked stale bread and tomatoes, sometimes also onions and basil, dressed with olive oil and vinegar. Making Panzanella salad is a terrific way to use up stale or leftover bread.
500 g stale bread (fresh bread will work too!)
100 ml garlic infused olive oil
16 cherry tomatoes, halved
16 black olives, pitted
a handful fresh basil, leaves removed from the stalks
30 ml balsamic vinegar
25 g Parmesan cheese, grated
freshly ground black pepper
salt
- Preheat the oven to 200°C when the bread is almost risen.
- Slice the bread into 1 cm thick slices. Then dice the slices up into even cubes.
- Transfer the diced bread to a baking tray lined with a Wizbake baking sheet and spread it evenly over the surface.
- Drizzle the oil evenly over the diced bread and stir well to make sure the bread has evenly absorbed the oil.
- Bake the bread until golden brown and crispy.
- In the meantime, add the cherry tomatoes and olives to the pan and stir-fry gently over a moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Season with pepper and salt.
- Add the fresh basil leaves, balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil to the pan and mix well.
- Transfer the salad to a bowl, cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Adjust the seasoning to taste by adding extra pepper, salt or balsamic vinegar.
- Transfer the salad to a serving bowl, sprinkle with the grated parmesan cheese and serve.
4 servings.