I am not normally a soggy bread person. I don’t really like french dips or a wet italian beef sandwich. I like my eggplant parmesan crispy, and no breadcrumbs on mac’n’cheese just incase it may be soggy. So my husband was very surprised when I thought that this salad was a good idea to try. This actually turns out to be quite delicious and I have even made it more than once.

Step one with this recipe is to have leftover homemade bread. Now I know not all kitchens may possess this, but mine definitely does. I make boules at least once a week, and we always have leftover that either gets changed into crostini or homemade breadcrumbs. Once in a while, I will make “crunchies” which are really croutons.

 

 

 

 

 

Panzanella

1/2 boule, cut into bite size pieces
2 tbsp good olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt

2 cups small tomatoes, mixed varieties
1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp basil, dried or 2 tbsp fresh

1 shallot, thinly sliced
3 cups spinach, arugala, lettuce and romaine (or any mixture of them)
4oz fresh mozzarella, diced (optional)

In a strainer, sitting over a bowl, place the diced tomatoes with 1 tsp kosher salt and let sit for 15 minutes to collect the juices.

While tomatoes are resting, preheat the oven to 400F. One a baking sheet, add the bite sized pieces of bread tossed with 2 tbsp olive and sprinkled with kosher salt. Bake bread until golden brown, usually takes about 10 – 20 minutes. Keep watching them because they can brown really quickly in some ovens. Take out of the oven and let cool before you use them for the salad.

Add the collected the tomato juices to 1/2 cup olive oil, garlic, vinegar, mustard and basil. Shake the dressing until combined.

In a serving dish, combine the tomatoes, bread, greens, shallot and mozzarella. 30 minutes before serving the salad, pour the salad dressing over. Let sit until you are ready to serve.