Panzanella
A delicious summer salad, this panzanella recipe uses fresh ingredients straight from the garden and stale bread. If you don’t have stale bread, don’t worry, you can toast it to make it crunchy like stale bread! Adding some garlic and olive oil to the bread makes it even more tasty! See recipe and written instructions below the video.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 Ciabatta Rolls halved
- 1/2 lb. Cocktail Tomatoes quartered
- 4 oz. Ciliegine Mozzarella halved
- 4 oz. Green Olives pitted and halved
- 3 Cucumbers cubed
- 1/2 Red Onion thinly sliced
- 1 Serrano Pepper chopped
- 2 Garlic Cloves pressed
- 9 Basil Leaves
- 5 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 Tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar
- Salt and Black Pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 400°F with rack in middle position.
- Meanwhile, press the garlic and place in a small bowl. Add two tablespoons of olive oil and mix.
- On a parchment paper lined baking sheet, place the ciabatta bread halves, cut side up, and brush the garlic and oil mixture on top of each half. Place in the oven and bake until golden brown and crispy, about fifteen minutes.
- Meanwhile, slice the onion thinly, cube the cucumbers, halve the mozzarella balls, chop the hot pepper, halve the olives, quarter the tomatoes and place it all in a large salad bowl. Rip up the basil leaves and add them to the bowl.
- Once the bread is ready, remove from the oven and let cool off a bit. Cut the bread into cubes. You may only need three of the halves, depending on the amount of bread you prefer in the salad. Add the bread cubes into the salad bowl.
- Season with sea salt, black pepper, vinegar and olive oil. Mix slowly and serve.
The tomato behind The Three Tomatoes.
Cheryl Benton, aka the “head tomato” is founder and publisher of The Three Tomatoes, a digital lifestyle magazine for “women who aren’t kids”. Having lived and worked for many years in New York City, the land of size zero twenty-somethings, she was truly starting to feel like an invisible woman. She created The Three Tomatoes just for the fun of it as the antidote for invisibility and sent it to 60 friends. Today she has thousands of friends and is chief cheerleader for smart, savvy women who want to live their lives fully at every age and every stage. She is the author of the novel, "Can You See Us Now?" and co-author of a humorous books of quips, "Martini Wisdom." Because she's lived a long time, her full bio won't fit here. If you want the "blah, blah, blah", read more. www.thethreetomatoes.com/about-the-head-tomato
