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Classic Panzanella Salad Recipe
Panzanella salad is a rustic easy-to-make Italian dish, made with stale bread, soaked in water and vinegar, tomatoes, cucumbers, onion and basil. All seasoned with extra virgin olive oil and salt.Panzanella salad is a typical dish of Tuscan cuisine and, more generally, of central Italy. Tuscany with Umbria, Lazio and Marche contend for its origin.This is a dish of the Italian cucina povera, a dish created to use stale bread, like the famous Pappa al Pomodoro or Ribollita, very simple yet very tasty Italian recipes.
Ingredients
- 300 g bread - ~10 oz, stale
- 300 g tomatoes - ~10 oz of ripe red tomatoes (like cluster tomatoes)
- 1 onion
- 1 cucumber
- 5 basil leaves - fresh
- 350 ml water - 1 ½ cups, cool
- 50 ml white wine vinegar - 3 ⅓ tablespoons
- 5 tablespoons olive oil - extra virgin
- salt - to taste
- black pepper - to taste
Instructions
- Cut the bread into coarse pieces and place them in a large bowl.
- Add the vinegar to the water then pour it on the bread. The bread should be completely sprinkled with water and vinegar but should not be put completely under water. Let the bread absorb the water+vinegar for about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cut the onion into very thin slices. If you want to sweeten the onion flavor a little and make it more digestible, you can put the slices in a bowl with cold water for about 20 minutes. Then remove the onion from the water and dry it.
- Then cut the cucumber and tomatoes into pieces.
- After about 20 minutes, squeeze the bread well with your hands. It should become almost dry. Crumble it into a large salad bowl. Add the tomatoes.
- Then add the onion slices, the cucumber and plenty of hand-chopped fresh basil. Season with plenty of oil, a little fine salt to taste and freshly ground black pepper. If you like a more acidic taste, you can add a few drops of balsamic white wine vinegar.
- Mix all the ingredients well and let Panzanella rest in a cool place for about an hour. Your Panzanella salad is ready!
Nutrition
Serving: 100gCalories: 396kcalCarbohydrates: 43gProtein: 9gFat: 21gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 0.02gSodium: 367mgPotassium: 432mgFiber: 5gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 707IUVitamin C: 15mgCalcium: 123mgIron: 3mg
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