This is one of those salads that, to me, is a perfect whole meal. Panzanella salad is traditionally a Tuscan bread salad made with fresh tomato, onion, cucumber and capsicum. I love that otherwise wasted bread comes in handy and plays the biggest part in this salad.
In this recipe, I use a shallot vinaigrette instead of fresh onion to give it a milder onion flavour.
This recipe makes the most of summer produce, the perfect accompaniment to summer barbeques.
Ingredients
- bread - always use day old bread, I love using sourdough in this salad
- tomato - is it even an Italian salad without tomato? I prefer heirloom tomatoes, but any tomato will do
- red capsicum - they add crunch and a little sweetness to the salad
- cucumber - one of my favourite vegetables, they add freshness to this dish
- basil - you cant have tomato without basil, so there's that... and its delicious and fragrant
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
- Step 1: Combine all spices into a large bowl and combine thoroughly with mixture
- Step 2: Form into ball shape with your hands
- Step 3: Press into patties
- Step 4: Cook in oven for x minutes at 400 degrees
Hint: if making a head of time, chop up the cucumber and red capsicum, place in a bowl and cover in the fridge. Then chop the tomatoes and put them in a separate bowl, covered and in the fridge. Make the croutons and dressing and set them aside. When you're ready to serve, throw it all together and add the basil.
Substitutions
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- Lettuce - instead of ice berg lettuce, you can use romaine lettuce or spinach
- Bun - use gluten free buns instead of white bread buns to make this gluten free
- Vegetarian - the beef hamburger can be replaced with a plant-based burger to make this vegetarian
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Variations
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- Spicy - add chili pepper flakes while cooking to imbue heat into the dish, or banana peppers
- Deluxe - add guacamole, crispy onions or
- Kid friendly - add crushed potato chips (ketchup chips!)
See this spicy version of this recipe on my website! (placeholder for in-content link)
Equipment
Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. Stone bakeware takes longer to heat up than metal pans, and also retain heat for longer, which could make the recipe more watery, or burnt on the outsides.
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Storage
Store the wet ingredients (lettuce, tomato, onion) separately from the dry ingredients (buns) in the fridge, and recombine when ready. Good for 2-3 days.
These ingredients do/don't stand up well to freezing for X days/weeks/months.
Top Tip
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Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favourite dishes to serve with panzanella salad:
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Let me know if you have tried this recipe