What’s so great about a Summer Panzanella Salad??
My Summer Panzanella Salad has all the fresh tastes of summer – ripe tomatoes, fresh basil, crispy french bread, and creamy mozzarella! I love a healthy but hearty salad during the summer and try to use fresh summer tomatoes in just about anything I can. With this salad, tomatoes are the star!! If you can find fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes (pretty easy to do in the South), definitely use them!
How to assemble Summer Panzanella Salad:
-  Make sure to use good, crusty bread like French bread. If it’s a couple of days old, even better! You’ll crisp the bread up in a pan with olive oil, crushed garlic, salt, pepper, and a little Italian seasoning. Make sure to leave them in the pan until they are golden brown and have all been coated in some of the oil. Â
- Mix the chopped tomatoes together in a bowl and add 1 tsp of red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and minced garlic. Let the tomato mixture sit for about 20 minutes. (I forgot to take a picture of this step. Oops!)
- Use a big handful of basil and cut the basil into strips. To do this, stack all the basil leaves on top of each other, roll them lengthwise, and slice starting at one end.Â
- Â Mix the bread, tomato mixture, basil, and mozzarella cheese together in a large bowl and enjoy!!!
Other salads I love for summer:
Summer Panzanella Salad
My Summer Panzanella Salad is light, fresh, and perfect for hot weather! Ripe tomatoes are mixed with fresh basil, crispy bread lightly coated with olive oil and seasonings, mozzarella cheese. This recipe is a summer MUST!
Ingredients
- 1/2 loaf of french bread slightly stale
- 2 yellow tomatoes
- 2 large red tomatoes
- 1 large handful of basil cut into strips
- Fresh mozzarella cheese
- 1 tbsp capers
- Olive oil
- 1 tsp red wine vinegar
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Cut the bread into cubes.
- Heat a small skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 rounds (pour twice around the pan) of olive oil. Take one clove of garlic (peeled) and smash it with the flat side of a knife. Add the garlic pieces to the oil. Stir around a minute and then add the cubes of bread to the pan. Sprinkle with 1 tsp or Italian seasoning, a good pinch of salt, and a little black pepper. Let the bread cook in the pan until slightly crispy.
- Dice the tomatoes and add them to a large bowl. Mince the other garlic clove and add it to the tomatoes. Add another good pinch of salt, some black pepper, and 1 tsp of red wine vinegar. Let the tomatoes sit for 15-20 minutes.
- Remove the bread from the heat and add to a separate bowl. While the bread is still warm, add the capers to the bowl of bread and mix well.
- Take a handful of basil leaves, stack them on top of each other, roll them up lengthwise, and cut into strips.
- Cut the mozzarella cheese into bitesize pieces.
- Add the bread, cheese, and basil to the bowl with the tomatoes. Gently mix together. Season with salt and pepper if needed.
- Enjoy!!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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