Welcome » Panzanella

Panzanella (pahn-zah-NELL-la) is a practical Italian dish transforming stale bread into a delicious salad. Traditionally it is made entirely from cold ingredients, but we like a roasted layer topped with a contrast of chilled. Mark said that it’s “like” salad, but without all the “boring” stuff. Ironically, a minute later he suggested it would be good over spinach leaves. I think I may be cracking his anti-vegetable platform.

Panzanella Recipe

Servings: 4
Calories per: 515
Active Time: 15 min
Total Time: 30 min
Difficulty: Easy

WHAT YOU NEED	WHAT TO DO	WHY
Parchment paper	Center an oven rack; preheat to 400°F Convection (verify with an oven thermometer). Meanwhile…	Internal oven thermostats are often improperly calibrated.
4 ounces (1 cup) yellow onion, wedged to 1/4 inch 5-6 crimini mushrooms, sliced to 1/4 inch 4 ounces thick sliced bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces 2 tablespoons olive oil ½ teaspoon ground black pepper ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt 8 ounces Focaccia , cubed to ½ inch.	Add onion, mushrooms and bacon to the sheet pan. Drizzle with oil; sprinkle with pepper and salt. Toss with hands to coat evenly; spread in an even layer. Bake until bacon is crispy (~14 minutes); pour off any excess fat. Distribute focaccia bread cubes evenly on top and return to the oven until bread browns at the edges (~5 minutes). Meanwhile…	Onion wedges are attractive and not prone to burning while roasting with bacon. Regular olive oil is sufficient here; heat destroys and wastes the subtle flavors of expensive extra-virgin.
12-15 Kalamata olives, pitted and halved 1 ripe Hass avocado, pitted, cubed 12-15 cherry tomatoes, seeded and quartered 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar ½ teaspoon ground black pepper 1/16 teaspoon fine sea salt 4 ounces Greek feta, crumbled to ¼ or ½ inch	Add all but the feta to a 3-quart bowl; gently toss with a silicone spatula. Serve in wide, shallow bowls with a layer of roasted ingredients, topped with cool ingredients, and crowned with feta.	Vinegar slows avocado discoloration and adds a pleasant tang. Keeping layers separate preserves contrasting temperatures. Adding just before serving protects texture and color.

FOR FOCACCIA SUBSTITUTION: Brush 3-4 slices of artisan white bread with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Evenly scatter 1 teaspoon grated Parmesan, 1 teaspoon Italian herb mix, and ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt on top. Cube as for Focaccia and proceed with Panzanella instructions.