Vegan Recipe: Panzanella
From Wikipedia:
Panzanella or panmolle is a type of Italian dish originating in the regions of Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Lazio. The dish is a bread salad popular in the summer months. It includes sliced bread and fresh tomatoes, flavored with basil, olive oil, and vinegar, often with salt and pepper.
Sometimes thought of as a “leftover salad,” additional panzanella ingredients often vary widely, and could include lettuce, white wine, capers, anchovies, celery, carrots, red wine, red onion, cucumber, tuna, parsley, boiled eggs, mint, bell peppers, lemon juice, and garlic.
I made this for the first time the other day, and fell in love. I substituted a little dried basil for the fresh basil and omitted the capers. It was delicious!
Ingredients
- Vinaigrette (recipe below)
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 8 ounces French or Italian bread
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 20 large fresh basil leaves
- 2 large tomatoes
- 1 cucumber
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1/2 medium red onion
- 3 tbsp capers, drained
Vinaigrette
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon finely minced fresh garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Directions
Coarsely chop basil leaves. Cut tomatoes, cucumber, and bell peppers into bite size pieces, onion into thin slices, and drain capers; set aside.
Whisk together all vinaigrette ingredients until well combined, set aside.
In skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-low heat. Add bread and salt and cook 10 minutes, frequently stirring in additional oil, or until bread cubes are browned.
Toss basil, tomatoes, cucumber, bell peppers, onion, and capers into vinaigrette. Add bread cubes and salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately, or refrigerate up to 1 hour.
Serves 12 with 210 calories and 16g fat (2.5g saturated) per serving
