Panzanella

Last year I discovered Panzanella and now it is a most looked forward to dish in this house!  Panzanella is an Italian salad.  It has toasted bread cubes in it (in Italian 'pane' means bread...so it is a bread salad) that soak up the yummy vinaigrette dressing.  MMmmm.  The more bread (basically homemade croutons) the better!

I make the croutons by cutting up an italian or french bread into fairly large cubes.  You can bake them in the oven, but I just toast them in a skillet on med-low heat until they are dry and crispy.  Then I drizzle a few tablespoons of butter seasoned with garlic salt over the bread while it's toasting in the pan. 

I didn't take many pictures because all you do is chop up the veggies and mix them together in a bowl with the oil and vinegar.  Then you add the croutons right before serving.  This is a great recipe for using all the garden veggies.  It is also such a nice, cool, refreshing meal or side dish.

This is so customizable..just throw in whatever you want!  But just make sure you've got lots of bread in it!
 Go make some Panzanella!! 

Panzanella

6 cups cubed Italian or rustic bread
4 large ripe tomatoes, cut into chunks
1 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 medium yellow peppers, seeded and cubed
1 large seedless cucumber, chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
3 TB red wine vinegar
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt (I sometimes just leave out the garlic and salt and add garlic salt)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/3 cup chopped parsley

Line a jelly roll pan with foil.  Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on pan.  Toast in 400 degree oven 10-12 minutes, tossing once, until evenly browned. (or do this in a skillet on the stove top) I also drizzle with butter while toasting.

Meanwhile, put tomatoes, onion, oil, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper in a large bowl.  Let stand at room temperature at least 30 minutes or until tomatoes release their juices. Toss occsionally.

Add peppers, cucumber and parsley to tomatoes.  Let stand at least 15 minutes for flavors to blend.  Just before serving, add bread cubes; toss to blend.  Or add bread cubes to each serving as it is being served.