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Meet Tuscan Panzanella Salad, featuring fresh tomatoes, basil, onions, peppers and whatever other vegetables you like (cukes?). It’s a substantial main-dish salad that you’ll add to your regular summer menu after you try it once.
I can’t believe summer is nearly over, but there it is, Labor Day, looming on the calendar like an exclamation point to the passing season. Summer! Done! Don’t let it hit you in the behind like a slamming door as you move on to the next quarter…
Before we descend into fall though, and break out the sweaters, let’s have one last hurrah for my favorite time of year. Tomatoes hang heavy on the vines, warmed by the late August sun. Peppers, too, dot the bushes like holiday ornaments, and arugula is still sprouting (perhaps bolting a bit!) in the warmth. The basil plants — may I just call them bushes and you’ll understand how enthusiastic they are in the garden? — have taken over, and jalapenos hang like green and red earrings from the branch.
How could I have forgotten to plant cucumbers this year? Good thing they are piled high at the farmers market. A quick trip there satisfies any need or craving I have for fresh fruits and vegetables that I haven’t grown myself.
Get ready to celebrate a memorable 3-day Labor Day weekend and put a ring on it. I have a classic recipe for you — Tuscan Panzanella Salad — a doozy that is perfect for all the vegetables you’ll find in your garden or at the market right now.
Say hello to Tuscan Panzanella Salad, if you haven’t shaken hands before. Featuring fresh tomatoes, basil, onions, peppers and whatever other vegetables you like (cukes?), it’s a substantial main-dish salad that you’ll add to your regular summer menu after you try it once.
One of the practicalities of it is stale bread (hurrah for using up leftovers!), added along with vinaigrette, to make it a meal in a bowl. Those Italians…they know what they’re doing.
Its charms are legendary.
It only takes a few ingredients, and you probably have most of them.
This has your name on it, so grab your salad bowl and get to it!
Tuscan Panzanella Salad
Ripe summer tomatoes star in this classic bread salad, which also features capers and olives for a salty tang, and onion and peppers.
Ingredients
- Salad
- 4 thick slices French or sourdough bread or a rustic Italian bread, cut into cubes
- 1 cup thinly sliced red onion
- 4 large heirloom tomatoes, cubed
- 1 orange, red or yellow bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped
- 20 flavorful olives, pitted and halved
- 4 handfuls fresh salad greens
- Garnish: 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
- Garnish: 1/4 cup shaved or grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
-
- Dressing
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon drained tiny capers
- Grated zest from 1 lemon
- 1 garlic clove, pressed
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground pepper
Directions
- Leave bread cubes out for a couple of hours to dry them out a bit.
- Add bread, onion, tomatoes, bell pepper and olives to a large salad bowl. Toss to combine.
- Make dressing: In a jar, add vinegar, capers, lemon zest, garlic and olive oil. Shake well, add salt and pepper to taste and shake again. Drizzle the dressing over the ingredients in salad bowl. Toss well to coat everything.
- Add salad greens to 4 wide, flat bowls. Pile bread salad on top, and garnish with torn basil leaves and sprinkles of Parmesan.
- Serves 4.
Notes
Recipe source: Dorothy Reinhold | Shockingly Delicious
https://www.shockinglydelicious.com/tuscan-panzanella-salad/Copyright Dorothy Reinhold | ShockinglyDelicious.com. All rights reserved.
Ripe summer tomatoes star in this classic bread salad, which also features capers and olives for a salty tang, and onion and peppers.
Ingredients
- Salad
- 4 thick slices French or sourdough bread or a rustic Italian bread, cut into cubes
- 1 cup thinly sliced red onion
- 4 large heirloom tomatoes, cubed
- 1 orange, red or yellow bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped
- 20 flavorful olives, pitted and halved
- 4 handfuls fresh salad greens
- Garnish: 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
- Garnish: 1/4 cup shaved or grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- Dressing
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon drained tiny capers
- Grated zest from 1 lemon
- 1 garlic clove, pressed
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground pepper
Directions
- Leave bread cubes out for a couple of hours to dry them out a bit.
- Add bread, onion, tomatoes, bell pepper and olives to a large salad bowl. Toss to combine.
- Make dressing: In a jar, add vinegar, capers, lemon zest, garlic and olive oil. Shake well, add salt and pepper to taste and shake again. Drizzle the dressing over the ingredients in salad bowl. Toss well to coat everything.
- Add salad greens to 4 wide, flat bowls. Pile bread salad on top, and garnish with torn basil leaves and sprinkles of Parmesan.
- Serves 4.
Notes
Recipe source: Dorothy Reinhold | Shockingly Delicious
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This recipe was originally published Aug. 29, 2015 and has been refreshed and republished today.
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At ShockD, you’ll find scrumptious, tried & true, "scary good" recipes, tips and coaching to make YOU a fabulous home cook! Don't blame me if you need a 12-step program to wean yourself away!
E-mail me: Dorothy.Reinhold@gmail.com
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This is a salad that I have never had before but looks delicious! I have been getting tomatoes and apples off people but for some reason, they have not been as delicious as last year… Hope I can find some good tomatoes (I am very picky when it comes to them.)
Kacey,
Here’s hoping the last of the summer tomatoes makes you happy. It would be sad to have to wait another whole year for them.
As much as I love fall, I will miss those summertime tomatoes. This salad is a great way to send off summer, especially when paired with a glass of white wine.
Dara/Cookin’ Canuck,
Summer tomatoes are truly one of the best things about this season.
I can’t believe it’s almost Labor Day already. Time is flying! This is the perfect salad to serve for a party!
Stephanie,
It really does hold up on the buffet table, too, because it’s not like you’re worried the bread will get soggy. It is supposed to get soggy!
I know, I can’t believe Labor Day is so close! This summer flew by. This is a real beauty of a salad – love the olives in there!
Faith,
I know. What happened to my summer? You could use any kind of olive you like in here.
this looks amazing! i love all the ingredients for the dressing too! Not just your basic vinaigrette which always (in my mind) makes a dinner salad more then just a basic salad but an actual meal! Love it!
Kaitie,
I like your thinking about the dressing. You’re right…a more complex dressing signals that this can be more than a side salad.
Our tomatoes did not do well this year. They would have been spectacular in your gorgeous salad. I am a sucker for bread in a salad.
Christie,
I am a new sucker for bread in the salad, too. Now I want bread in ALL my salads!
I love a summer salad especially one using fresh from the garden tomatoes. The ingredients are perfect for this hot August weather.
Ali,
We are in a 90+ degree heatwave here, and are having this for dinner every night! Cannot bear to turn an appliance on.
The colors in this salad are gorgeous. I love how you can tweak it to what you have on hand, like I would love to add avocado. This salad is perfect for Labor Day- thanks.
Dana,
You’re so right. On my second version, I did add avocado, and it was awesome as expected.
This is such a crazy thing to admit, but I have never had panzanella. Not here and not this summer in Italy. Maybe it is partially because it is hard to conceive of leftover tomatoes! 😉 I love the basil and lemon zest in this one–you are inspiring me to think I should give it a try!
Laura,
Oh my. You must remedy that omission in your culinary education, and right now, while summer tomatoes are in your face!
Perfect summer salad and great for the last blast of summer bbq! Your pictures are beautiful!!
Debra,
Thank you, how sweet of you to say that.
Summer can gladly slam me in the behind and the sooner the better! I’m done with the triple digits, stifling humidity, and crazy storms!! But seeing as it is not going anywhere anytime soon, this salad would be a refreshing treat to enjoy for sure! It is so pretty too!
Marion,
Out here in drought-land, we would give anything for a summer storm! Not to be though.
Believe it or not, I just had panzanella for the first time last month! Wow! Can’t wait to try this variation.
Katie,
I just had it 2 nights in a row, and am contemplating a third, because it is so blasted hot here right now! Tweak it to suit yourself!
Panzanella salad is one of my fave salads. Your version looks appetizingly delightful – bursting with lovely colors and delicious flavors! The perfect way to say goodbye to summer!
What an easy salad for a hot Labor Day dinner!
Cindy,
You’re right…it’s super easy! It would even be good the night AFTER a party, to use up the leftover bread.
LOVE a panzanella! And this is the perfect time to enjoy one.
Liz,
You’re right. It’s all about the ripe summer tomatoes.
I remember the first time I had a Panzanella Salad. Yours looks absolutely stunning.
Thank you Marlene!
I love panzanella salad! Yours looks so light and refreshing!
We live on panzanella during these hot summer days –
Liz,
We are having such a heat wave, I am tempted to have this 3 nights in a row!
This is one gorgeous salad, Dorothy…perfect for a party!
Thank you Wendy!
I adore a panzanella salad. You sure do have nice ingredients in yours and a lovely dressing too. Great to keep it simple and let the flavors of summer shine through.
Thanks, Renee. That was my thought. Keep it super simple. You can always throw other things in, but sometimes you just want it to be clean and clear.