Feel free to be flexible on the ingredients. In this version I grabbed what I had on hand in the fridge. I will print the traditional recipe and also tell you my substitutions based on what I had on hand.
Panzanella Salad
Ingredients:
- 6 cups cubed day old bread (french or sour dough works best)
- 1/4 cup Olive Oil.
- 4 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 12-15 cherry or grape tomatoes cut in half
- 1 medium red skinned onion sliced very thin
- 6-12 fresh basil leaves torn or chopped small.
- Optional add in's:
- Chopped cucumbers
- Fresh corn
- Mozzarella Cheese Shreds
- tuna, chicken
Jan's Substitutions: (I used 1/4 cup light basil/parmesan Italian Dressing for the olive oil , garlic and vinegar. I used a handful of chopped green onions for the red onions. I threw in a handful of leftover fresh corn, I tossed in a SMALL handful of shredded mozarella cheese)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 °.
- Spread bread cubes on a baking sheet and lightly spray the cubes with non stick cooking spray, coating all sides.
- Toast 7-10 minutes until crispy.
- Remove from oven and let cool.
- While bread is toasting and cooling cut tomatoes in half (or bite sized pieces)
- Chop onions (and cucumbers if adding them in).
- Chop basil leaves.
- In small bowl stir together olive oil, vinegar and minced garlic, set aside
- In large bowl mix together all vegetables, and add in ingredients.
- When bread is cool, lightly stir into the vegetable mixture.
- Lightly toss olive oil dressing into bread/tomatoes and mix together.
- Serve immediately.