bread salad
The Panzanella
[
Susan Glasspool]
he famous Panzanella or Bread Salad is a deliciously refreshing platter invented by the thrifty Florentines as a way of using up stale bread and it can be found in most
restaurants during the summer. It is also very easy to make at home, with the advantage that you can increase some of the ingredients to taste! However the success of this extremely simple recipe depends on two things: the bread must be unsalted country bread, slightly stale (at most a day or two old) and soaked in water, before squeezing, crumbling up and mixing with all the other ingredients which must be top quality and fresh. The recipe can be varied with the addition of other vegetables, like cucumber, for instance, but the dominating flavours come from the tomatoes and onions, seasoned with plenty of really good
olive oil, vinegar, basil leaves, salt and pepper. The accompanying wine should be fairly light as the vinegar in the seasoning can affect its flavour. In the past Panzanella was eaten with a weak, watery wine called vinello or acquerello, made by soaking the bunches of grapes left after the wine pressing in water and then squeezing them out. A light, young red wine is therefore best.
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bread salad