Seasonal Panzanella Salad

Rustic toasted croutons with chopped tomatoes for panzanella salad.

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5 from 1 vote

Let your fresh produce shine in this salad.

Prep Time20

Cook Time15

Resting Time20

Total Time55

Course: Salad

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: servings

Calories: 324kcal

Author: Carolyn Hetke

Ingredients

3 large beefsteak or heirloom tomatoes aim for 2-3 pounds
2 tsps coarse salt Kosher salt or coarse sea salt. See Note 1.
4 ciabatta rolls or other rustic bread enough for about 6 cups of bread cubes
2 Tbsps olive oil

Optional Ingredients (See Note 2)

½ medium sweet onion diced coarsely
1 medium cucumber peeled and cut in to 1" chunks
1 red sweet pepper cut into 1" chunks
¼ cup chopped fresh basil leaves optional but recommended

Dressing

½ cup extra virgin olive oil
tomato juice reserved from draining tomatoes
2 cloves garlic minced
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 Tbsps red wine vinegar
fresh ground pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°. (Not necessay if using an air fryer.)
Wash and cube the tomatoes in to 1" chunks or so. Put tomatoes in a strainer, toss with the salt and allow them to rest over a bowl to capture the juices for 10-20 minutes. Reserve the juices that drip in to the bowl for use in the dressing.
Chop the bread in to 1" cubes. Toss in 2 Tbsps olive oil in a large bowl and spread out in single layer on a baking sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes in the oven until cubes are crispy but not over-browned. If using an air fryer, spread the oiled cubes on the racks, air fry 3-5 minutes until crispy but not over-browned. Allow cubes to cool. (Can be made a day or 2 ahead and held at room temperature in an air tight container.) Stir cubes up as needed to get even crispiness.
Whisk all the dressing ingredients except olive oil vigorously till well combined. Add the olive oil in a slow drizzle while whisking vigourously.
Toss the tomato cubes (reserving the juice that sweated out) and any other vegetables you are using in a large bowl. Add the toasted bread cubes and toss with the dressing. Allow salad to stand at room temperature about 20 minutes so bread can absorb some of the dressing. (See Note 3 ).
This salad is best eaten the day it is made.

Notes

Note 1: If you don't have coarse salt on hand you can use regular salt but reduce it to about 1 teaspoon or your salad will be too salty.

Note 2: You can adjust the quantities of the optional vegetables depending on how many ones you add or to your taste. Try to make the vegetable chunks, tomato chunks and bread cubes about the same size. Aim for about 12 cups of finished salad, but even the final amount can vary.

Note 3: Tomatoes lose their flavour when refrigerated so only toss all ingredients with the dressingabout 30 minutes before serving.

Nutrition includes all optional ingredients.

Nutrition