Panzanella

G

iven the abundance of vegetables coming into my kitchen lately—whether from my own garden, or my friends'—putting them into some kind of queue for the dinner menu has been, at times, daunting. But the task became simpler two or three days ago when I found some bread at my local mega-store, advertised as having been hand-crafted by the La Brea Bakery.

Perhaps the the thing I love most about food and cooking is that so often, one ingredient—and in this case, a stale one—can bring a dish, or even a whole meal together. That hapened last night; the dish was Panzanella, the famous Tuscan salad made with day-old bread.

Beyond the day-old bread, this is the only Italian dish I know of that includes cetriolo, cucumber. Of course if Italians took the trouble to invent a word for the fruit, I'm certain they'd use it in more recipes than Panzanella, but I digress.

Good Panzanella begins with good bread, (even if it is a day old) which gets reconstituted by soaking in water. The water gets squeezed out, the bread gets combined with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, lettuce and basil, then the magic happens. Somehow the bread takes on more of the flavor of the oil and vinegar dressing than the vegetables do; giving the salad a more lively flavor, and a wonderful, unctuous texture.

For the rest of the year, day-old bread makes great bread crumbs, or Papa al Pomodoro. But for now, when the market stalls are overflowing with fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, Panzanella is the only use for me.

Note: In the interest of full disclosure, memory fades, but I think I had cucumber in an Insalata Mista, mixed salad, at a little trattoria in Rome the last time I was there. Nevertheless, I'd love to hear from anyone who can point me toward another use for cucumber in Italian cuisine.

Panzanella
Tuscan Bread Salad

Ingredients:

3 - 4 Cups day-old rustic bread, coarsely shredded
2 - 3 Medium tomatoes, cut into chunks
1 Medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and sliced
1 Medium Bermuda onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 - 3 Cups leaf lettuce, shredded
3 - 4 Tbs. Fresh basil, finely chopped
Salt & freshly-ground black pepper
2 - 3 Tbs. Red wine vinegar
3 - 4 Tbs. Extra virgin olive oil

Preparation:

Soak the bread in water for approximately ten minutes, then remove, squeezing out as much moisture as possible with your hands.

Add the bread to a salad bowl, then add the tomatoes, cucumbers, and onion. Season with salt and pepper, then add the lettuce and basil.

Pour the vinegar into a separate bowl, add a pinch of salt, then add olive oil to create a combination to your taste. Pour over the salad and toss to combine.

Serves four.

Technorati Tags: Panzanella, Salad, Skip Lombardi