Panzanella is a simple Italian salad made from ripe tomatoes, “dry” bread and a simple sour sauce. It can be made in larger quantities with more bread, so it is sufficient as a complete meal and you can serve it as a refreshing and fragrant salad with baked potatoes and sweet potatoes.
This time I decided for the second version because I only had a few slices of bread, but still enough for crunching!
Let’s go to the recipe!
Ingredients and preparation steps
For baked bread
- 5 slices of (gluten-free) bread (even better if the bread is not fresh)
- salt
- olive oil
First, bake the bread.
Heat the oven to 190°C. Put baking paper on the pan and spread bread cubes on it. Pour olive oil over the bread in thin streams and add salt.
Bake in a heated oven for about 15-20 minutes, depending on the power of your oven, until the bread turned golden yellow.
Take the baked bread out of the oven and let it cool.
For the potatoes
- 200 g of potatoes
- 200 g of orange sweet potato
- 200 g purple sweet potato
- salt
- olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of dry thyme
While the bread is toasting in the oven, peel and wash the potatoes. Cut into cubes about 1.5 cm in size, put in a bowl, add oil, salt, thyme and mix well. Put baking paper on the pan and arrange the potatoes.
When the bread is ready, increase the temperature to 200°C and put the potatoes in the oven for about 30 minutes or until they are baked, depending on the power of your oven.
While the potatoes are baking, make the salad and sauce.
Sauce ingredients
- 200 ml of fresh tomato juice (from 3 large, ripe tomatoes)
- ½ teaspoon of tomato salt
- 2 tablespoons of wine vinegar
- 2 handfuls of fresh basil leaves, crushed in a mortar
- 50 ml of olive oil
- ½ teaspoon of salt for sauce
- 50 ml of water kefir (if you don’t have it, it is not a requirement for the sauce)
Salad ingredients
- 2 fresh cucumbers
- 2 large tomatoes
- 200 g of cherry tomatoes
- 3 nectarines
- 1 mozzarella burrata
First, cut the tomatoes for the sauce, then salt them and leave for 10 minutes to release the juice.
During this time, wash the vegetables and nectarines for the salad and cut them into smaller cubes, then crush the basil in a mortar so that the leaves release their juice.
After 10 minutes, mash the tomatoes for the sauce through a strainer and extract the juice.
In a separate container, add the tomatoes juice, crushed basil and other ingredients for the sauce and mix everything well.
In a large bowl, add the sliced ingredients for the salad – cucumber, tomatoes and nectarines, add the sliced mozzarella and cover everything with the sauce. Add the toasted bread and mix everything.
Serve with baked potatoes and enjoy the flavors!
