Panzanella Salad: Easy, Tuscan Favourite (e53)

Buon Giorno A Tutti!! In this episode, Nonna Mia, la nonna di tutti (everyone's grandmother), finds herself missing summer, so she decides to demonstrate a Tuscan favourite - Panzanella Salad. It's a dreary Covid-January day in Ontario, and this salad, with its fragrant basil leaves and tomatoes, it just the trick to transport you into summer!! It's super easy and incredibly delicious - so we highly recommend making this, if you haven't before!

Nonna starts with 500 grams of multi-coloured grape tomatoes. She prefers to have variety in colour, but you can use whatever you have on hand or like. She salts the tomatoes and sets it aside to leach. The tomato juice is important in this salad.

Panzanella Salad features stale bread. In this episode, Nonna uses half a loaf of Calabrese bread, but you can use what you like. She tears the bread into bite-sized morsels, rather than cut them, as she prefers a more rustic look, but feel free to cut your bread into cubes if that is more your style.

Generously sprinkle extra virgin olive oil on the bread, add salt and pepper to taste, and 3 minced garlic cloves. Mix. Then bake for 10 minutes at 350F.

Nonna adds one sliced cucumber. If your cucumber has a lot of seeds, be sure to remove them, as it waters down the juices. Nonna uses a red onion, to give more colour and 24 basil leaves. She next adds in half a cup of pitted olives. Nonna uses black kalamata olives, but you can use green, or black - it is a matter of preference really.

Toss in the bread, and add about 2 ounces of white wine vinegar (you can use red) and 2 ounces of olive oil. Nonna sprinkles in some oregano - again, it is a matter of taste. If you don't like it, skip it.

She lets the salad rest a bit so that the flavours seep into the bread.

Optionally, you can top with some pecorino cheese, or even bocconcino cheese for a bit of protein and enjoy!

Welcome summer!

Buon appetito!

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[aukjes]

This recipe is on my menu for tonight. It looks wonderful. Saluti from the Netherlands.

[brunaleporace]

Grande nonna Mia molto invitante questa ricetta 😙😙😙

[josietulipano]

That looks Delish Nonna. It reminds me of the Tuscan soup - ribolita? Do you make that?