Ellen Kanner

soulful vegan writer

  • About
  • CONSULTATION
  • PUBLICATIONS
  • RESOURCES
  • RECIPES
  • Video
  • Shop
  • Appearances
  • BLOG
  • CONTACT
  • $0.00
You are here: Home / BREAD / Panzanella — Bread, Tomatoes and Summer Romance 

Panzanella — Bread, Tomatoes and Summer Romance 

June 20, 2022 by Ellen Kanner Leave a Comment

Ripe-to-bursting tomatoes meet bread that’s seen better days, and you have a recipe for summer romance.  Actually, you have a recipe for panzanella, Italy’s classic bread salad.

Across the Middle East, they make a tomato-bread salad using  old pita and call it fattoush. In Tunisia, they call it blankit.  In fact, traditional cuisines of all kinds have a history of transforming a simple, often stale, loaf of bread into a meal.  

The name and the ingredients may change, but the idea is the same everywhere — 

  • old bread
  • fresh tomatoes
  • extra virgin olive oil 
  • a zing of acidity from vinegar or lemon

Put them all together and taste the magic. 

What makes panzanella a winner is its something-from-almost-nothing appeal. It’s a dish born of frugality and expedience, of making the most of what you have, even if it’s very little. 

Panzanella makes you more kitchen conscious, reduces waste, and rewards you with a quick, cheap, satisfying meal.  Plus it can feed a crowd. With a little creativity, a well-stocked larder, and a desire to feed those you love, there’s always enough to eat.

 Stretch and embellish panzanella by adding any number of ingredients.  Some suggestions:

  • beans, like chickpeas or cannellini 
  • sliced cucumber
  • thinly sliced onion or scallions
  • cooked green beans
  • roasted vegetables
  • sliced radishes 
  • shaved fennel
  • artichoke hearts
  • olives
  • capers 
  • fresh herbs such as basil, tarragon, parsley, dill and mint 
  • tender greens like arugula, spinach and sorrel

 It uses old bread in a new way.  What’s not to love?

How do you Panzanella?

Jump to Recipe or stick around for panzanella protocol.

How to Make Panzanella:

  1. Place sliced or diced tomatoes and minced garlic in a colander. Sprinkle with sea salt.   
  2. Place colander over a bowl so you catch all the tomato juice. Leave in a cool spot for an hour or longer, or refrigerate overnight.
  3. Whisk olive oil into tomato and garlic juice for a minute, or until emulsified. Add cumin, red pepper flakes and coriander. Whisk in vinegar.
  4. Tumble bread cubes onto a generous platter or serving bowl. Pour half the dressing over the bread. Mix gently. Wait a few minutes so the bread can absorb the flavors.
  5. Scatter in the herbs, and finally the tomatoes. 
  6. Pour on the remaining vinaigrette, mix gently and serve.

Tips

  • For best results, use a day-old loaf of Italian bread https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/italian-bread-101-recipe, or baguette. I like a good grainy whole wheat loaf, and keep the crusts on.
  • Keep it simple.  Or not.  I’ve made panzanella with so many ingredients, the tomatoes and bread are outnumbered. But they’re must-haves.  Keep the tomatoes and keep the bread.  Without stale bread, you just have salad.
  • Use what you have. Chef Massimo Bottura,https://osteriafrancescana.it/massimo-bottura/ eve has made panzanella with stale bagels.
  • Use what’s in season.  Let seasonal produce guide you. Panzanella can be springy, with grape tomatoes, fresh peas, asparagus and lemon zest. It can be summery, with big fat tomatoes and sliced roasted eggplant and zucchini.  
  • My friend T says eating too much fattoush, will give you a fat tush. Don’t believe him. 

Related Recipes 

Chef José Andrés’ fattoush  

Chef Massimo Bottura’s Mexican bagel panzanella 

Michelin-star Chef Cristiano Tomei shared a panzanella recipe and more during the worst of pandemic lockdown.

Pappa al pomodoro. Another brilliant use for stale bread and ripe tomatoes  pappa al pomodoro is bread and tomato soup. I love it hot, but you can also serve it chilled for summer, like gazpacho.

Panzanella

Panzanella, your classic Mediterranean tomato-bread salad is a great way to play up end-of-season tomatoes and use up tired bread, too. Plus, it feeds a crowd. You can stretch and embellish it by adding any number of ingredients, including drained chickpeas, chopped cooked green beans, kalamata olives, diced cucumber or chopped roasted peppers, but at heart, the recipe relies on good bread and ripe tomatoes. Panzanella can be heavy on the oil. Here, the dressing features the collected juice of chopped tomatoes, keeping it light and bright.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Course Main Course, Salad
Cuisine Mediterranean
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 3 large ripe tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic or rice vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon coriander
  • 1/2 loaf day-old rustic whole grain bread cubed (about 6 cups), crusts on, if you please
  • 2 cups fresh herbs chopped — parsley, cilantro, basil, mint, basil, dill, arugula, or in any combination

Instructions
 

  • Smash garlic and dice tomatoes and place them in a colander over a bowl, so you catch all the tomato juice. Leave in a cool spot for an hour or longer, or refrigerate overnight.
  • Whisk olive oil into tomato and garlic juice for a minute, or until emulsified. Add cumin, red pepper flakes and coriander. Whisk in vinegar.
  • Tumble bread cubes onto a generous platter or serving bowl. Pour half the dressing over the bread. Mix gently. Wait a few minutes so the bread can absorb the flavors.
  • Scatter in the herbs, and finally the tomatoes. Add the remaining vinaigrette, mix gently and serve.
  • Recipe doubles easily. Sturdy enough to survive sitting around at a picnic or buffet.
Keyword Panzanella

Fattoush

You can spot great cooks not by what they do with the best ingredients but by what they do with the scraps. Italian, French, and Spanish cooks all make amazing dishes with old bread; Mexicans do astonishing things with leftover tortillas. In Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East there is a whole class of dishes dedicated to using up old flatbread, called fattat. Fattoush is the king of fattat. It hits all the notes I want in a salad: lots of texture, great flavor, and bright clean freshness from the herbs and the pomegranate vinaigrette. That’s probably why it continues to be one of our most popular dishes at Zaytinya. You could use stale pitas, as savvy cooks in Lebanon do, but supermarket pita chips do the trick.
Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 1 seedless English cucumber, quartered lengthwise and cut into ¾-inch dice
  • 1 green bell pepper cored, seeded, and cut into ¾-inch pieces
  • 6 to 8 radishes thinly sliced 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
  • ½ cup thinly sliced red onion
  • ¹∕³ cup coarsely chopped fl parsley
  • ¼ cup coarsely chopped mint 1 teaspoon sumac
  • ½ cup Pomegranate Molasses Vinaigrette page 342
  • Kosher salt
  • 4 cups pita chips or 4 old pitas, toasted and broken into ½-inch pieces

Instructions
 

  • Combine the cucumber, pepper, radishes, tomatoes, onion, parsley, mint, and sumac in a large bowl.
  • Toss with enough vinaigrette to generously coat the vegetables. Season with salt and toss again.
  • Top the salad with the pita chips and serve.

Notes

CREDIT LINE: Excerpt from VEGETABLES UNLEASHED by José Andrés and Matt Goulding. Copyright 2019 by José Andrés. Excerpted by permission of Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

dividerEK


dividerEKThank you for reading my vegan stories and plant-based recipes. I sincerely love to connect with listeners and would like to hear your feedback, takeaways, “ah-ha!” moments, etc in the comments.

Connect with me for discounts, exclusive tips, and other freebies:
• Join my NEWSLETTER for exclusive content & offers
• Join my social networks on LINKEDIN, TWITTER and FACEBOOK

Want to learn more?
Explore more of my VEGAN RECIPES, and my COOK BOOKS.
Do you want a happier life, a greener plate, and a delicious world? Then sign up for VEG THERAPY.



Filed Under: BREAD, LIGHT MEALS, Salads Tagged With: bread, day old bread, olive

« Two Holidays, One Great Bowl –– Juneteenth Bowl
A Cheer for Chana Masala »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Ellen Kanner ELLEN KANNER is a soulful vegan writer on food, wellness and sustainability with over 15 years' experience. She's a recipe developer for numerous publications...[Read More] .

~ Work With Ellen ~

She is available for speaking engagements, consultations, and cooking demonstrations. To book a paid speaking gig, contact her.

~ available Cookbooks ~

Ellen Kanner

buynow

Ellen Kanner

buynow

Upcoming Events

Feb
9
Thu
6:00 pm Online Event: Roots! An Edible E... @ Online: Via Miami-Dade Public Library
Online Event: Roots! An Edible E... @ Online: Via Miami-Dade Public Library
Feb 9 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Online Event: Roots! An Edible Exploration of the Vegetable Underground with Chef Ellen Kanner @ Online: Via Miami-Dade Public Library
  Vegan chef Ellen Kanner shares easy ways to enjoy root vegetables in all their glory – not just potatoes but also fennel, carrots, beets and many more winter vegetables. Taste the sweetness you’ve been...

Read More »

View Calendar
Add
  • Add to Timely Calendar
  • Add to Google
  • Add to Outlook
  • Add to Apple Calendar
  • Add to other calendar
  • Export to XML

Recent Publications

What Is British Cheese Rolling? | The Cheese Professor

Around the World in Cornmeal Mush | Whetstone Magazine

Adaptogens and Healthful Botanicals Trend in Cocktails | The Alcohol Professor

Discovering A Brave New World of Vegan Chocolates

Is Olive Oil Good For Us? | Huffpost

VegNews Jan 2022

Edible South Florida Winter Issue

Edible South Florida Fall 2021

VegNews Holiday 2021

Thanksgiving Without Turkey? A Valid Argument For Skipping The Bird.

Why This Latin American Chef Rejects The Term ‘Latinx’

The Diva of Daufuskie

SoFloVegans Podcast

Is Wine Vegan?

The Best Artisanal Cheese and Why We Love Them

Food Rescue U.S.: ‘Hunger Doesn’t Take A Holiday’

Art Friedrich: Food Insecurity Is A ‘Weakness That Will Be Exploited By Adversaries’

Broccoli Rising|October 2020 – Breathe, Nourish, Rise

What is Vegan Cheese and is it Legit?

The Germans Have a Word for That Snack

From Cucina Povera to Conscious Cookery: Timeless Garden-to-Kitchen and Back Again Smarts

Thinking Outside and Inside the Box: Growing Greens in Miami

Diet for a Large Pandemic

Currently Featured On

Vegan Cinco de Mayo: Vegan Date-Sweetened Chocolate Love Bites & Mango Black Bean Salad

Vedge Your Best – The Plant-Based Podcast – Michele Olender

Professional Associations

~Contributing Columnist ~

Ellen Kanner
Ellen Kanner

~ Search Site ~

RSS Newsletter

  • February 2023 February 1, 2023
  • A Little Ask and a Little Delight January 17, 2023
  • January 2023 December 29, 2022
  • December 2022 December 1, 2022
  • November 2022 November 1, 2022

~ Signup for my Newsletter~

~ Follow me on Twitter ~

© 2023 ELLEN KANNER - site by Kapok Graphics