Recipe: Panzanella - a delicious way to use up stale bread (2024)

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Recipe: Panzanella - a delicious way to use up stale bread (1)

One of the most delicious things that I have eaten recently was a simple bowl of panzanella, which was served in a relatively smart restaurant in Milan. This Tuscan dish is classic peasant food, frugal and made from scraps, but when made well it is memorable and and astonishingly good. Every cook will have their own recipe, but the dish at its most basic is a simple plate of stale bread which has been soaked in a mixture of olive oil, vinegar and tomatoes; seasoning, herbs and other flavours can be added. As is the way with Italian food, simple but made with quality ingredients will win every time and the humble panzanella is no exception.

It can be a meal in itself, or an ideal accompaniment for soup or a salad. In the summer I’d be most happy with some for my breakfast – although I’d probably skip both the onion and capers first thing.

Recipe: Panzanella - a delicious way to use up stale bread (2)

You do want to use a relatively good bread for this, sliced supermarket white simply will not do and will turn to mush; ciabatta, a rustic loaf or sourdough will all work, you need a bread with some substance so it softens whilst still retaining some texture and shape. Your tomatoes want to be very ripe, verging on soft, sun ripened and fragrant. Mine were from the very last of the harvest from my mother’s greenhouse last weekend. It is worth the effort to remove most of the skin; mine were so ripe that the classic method of lightly scoring the skin, then plunging into a bowl of just boiled water would have split the entire fruit, so I quartered the tomatoes and scraped the flesh from the skin using the back of the knife.

Add seasonings to suit you, I don’t really care for raw onion (and fear the effects of my onion breath on those around me so I rarely eat it) and used very little. Red onion is milder then white, and to tame it you can dice it, place in a sieve and pour boiling water over before using.

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Recipe: Panzanella - a delicious way to use up stale bread (4)

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4.60 from 5 votes

Panzanella

A simple frugal Tuscan dish that is astonishingly delicious.

Servings: 2

Author: Helen Best-Shaw

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time5 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Ingredients

  • 8 slices ciabatta (or similar amount other rustic bread or sourdough - stale)
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 6 tomatoes (medium sized, very ripe, skinned and finely chopped)
  • 1 thin slice red onion (finely diced)
  • 1 tsp capers (rinsed and chopped)
  • 5 basil leaves (shredded)
  • Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions

Notes

Use the best quality ingredients that you can, especially the olive oil and the tomatoes.

• Please note that the nutrition information provided below is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

• Unless stated otherwise cup conversions have been made with an online tool. For accuracy please check with your favoured conversion tool. We recommend buying inexpensive digital kitchen scales.

Nutrition Facts

Panzanella

Amount Per Serving

Calories 510Calories from Fat 252

% Daily Value*

Fat 28g43%

Saturated Fat 4g25%

Sodium 582mg25%

Carbohydrates 53g18%

Fiber 1g4%

Protein 9g18%

Vitamin A 55IU1%

Iron 0.2mg1%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Course: Vegan

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Panzanella

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I accompanied my panzanella with a bowl of GLORIOUS! Tuscan Chicken and Orzo Soup, and was instantly transported back to Italy, and the rolling hills of Tuscany, with ancient towns perched on the hills.

For more recipes to accompany a GLORIOUS! soup try

Recipe: Panzanella - a delicious way to use up stale bread (5)

The entire range of GLORIOUS! soups has a travel theme, with flavours such as:-

  • New England Butternut Squash
  • Singapore Crushed Tomato
  • Bangalore Lentil Daal
  • Cuban Creamed Corn
  • Fragrant Thai Carrot
  • Sicilian Tomato & Balsamic
  • Mexican Tomato & Fire Roasted Pepper
  • Mumbai Lentil and Chickpea
  • Goan Tomato and Lentil

The soups aim to transport you from your kitchen, dining room, desk or wherever you are eating your soup to that far flung destination you yearn to visit or have fond memories of.




One of the things I most love about travelling is to eat new dishes and to discover new foods, and I nearly always come home with a case of ingredients and a note book of recipes. Recreating holiday dishes instantly transports me back to that beach, or the busy souk, the beach or that Tuscan hillside where I first tasted it.

If you yearn to travel and to discover new dishes the folks at GLORIOUS! have a fab competition to win a trip to Mumbai, staying at the Sun n Sand, India’s first beachfront hotel, and taking a guided taste tour with a small group of fellow food lovers. For a chance to win all you need to do is pick one of the destinations represented by a GLORIOUS! soup and write a blog post about the country and the soup representing it. Closing date is the 30th November, and full T&Cs can be found here. Good luck, and I am rather jealous that I am not allowed to enter!

Recipe and post commissioned by GLORIOUS! All opinions our own

Recipe: Panzanella - a delicious way to use up stale bread (15)

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Reader Interactions

Comments

    Leave a Reply

  1. Jacqueline Meldrum

    Recipe: Panzanella - a delicious way to use up stale bread (20)
    What an excellent idea Helen and much more satisfying than plain bread. You could happily serve this to guests.

    Reply

    • Helen

      Very easy to serve to guests, and super frugal too.

      Reply

  2. Alida

    Panzanella is just such a simple, rustic and delicious dish to make. My Tuscan friend Manuela taught me to make it and since then I make it regularly. This helps getting rid of some old bread too.
    Love this post and the photos too!

    Reply

    • Helen

      Thank you Alida. It is one of my favourite things to eat. So simple, but so so good

      Reply

  3. Jeanne Horak-Druiff

    Recipe: Panzanella - a delicious way to use up stale bread (21)
    Mmmm, panzanella! It’s one of those foods that sounds really unappetising on paper (stale bread salad, anyone??) but massively outperforms expectations when you eat it. Love your idea of serving it with a hearty Italian soup :)

    Reply

    • Helen

      It really is one of the best dishes. I love rustic peasant style food!

      Reply

  4. Sarah, Maison Cupcake

    Recipe: Panzanella - a delicious way to use up stale bread (22)
    My Italian friends always used to bring a loaf of Italian bread back with them to London after visiting home and I can well imagine how it would taste with good tomatoes and seasoning. Fabulous serving suggestion with this soup – I will definitely be checking out that flavour next.

    Reply

    • Helen

      I’ve not (yet) bought bread back. The Panzanella really really does need good home grown tomatoes. It worked so well with the soup.

      Reply

  5. Rachel Anderson

    Recipe: Panzanella - a delicious way to use up stale bread (23)
    This looks lovely and simple and lovely. I love bread and olive oil, and this looks like a great variation on that theme.

    Reply

    • Helen

      It is so good Rachel. Stale bread salad really does not have the same ring to it does it?

      Reply

  6. Holly Lamb

    Those pictures from Italy look are beautiful! it would be so lovely to have a market like that here.

    Reply

    • Helen

      Thanks Holly. It was an amazing trip. I do love Italy.

      Reply

  7. Jack Carpenter

    Recipe: Panzanella - a delicious way to use up stale bread (24)
    Panzanella, bruschetta and all those bread and tomato combinations are favourites of mine. So nice to see this.

    Reply

    • Helen

      We love them too Jack. Simple, frugal and delicious.

      Reply

Recipe: Panzanella - a delicious way to use up stale bread (2024)

FAQs

What does panzanella mean in english? ›

Meaning of panzanella in English

an Italian salad made with stale (= not fresh) bread in oil and tomatoes, and often other vegetables: Stale bread can be used in panzanella, a Tuscan bread salad.

What do you eat with panzanella? ›

It's also a great starter to a fun Italian menu with anything including sundried tomato pasta, eggplant parmesan, chicken pesto, or Fish of your choice. Panzanella can also be the perfect summer salad for your next BBQ with things like chicken kabobs, lamb burgers, or grilled shrimp.

What does panzanella taste like? ›

Earthy beets, vibrant orange, and fresh herbs like dill, parsley, tarragon, and mint add depth to the entire dish. Food and Wine's roundup of eighteen amazing Italian salads including a panzanella recipe is a great place to start. The options are endless and will leave your mouth watering.

What are the ingredients in panzanella? ›

In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, red onion, basil, and capers. Add the bread cubes and toss with the vinaigrette. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Serve, or allow the salad to sit for about half an hour for the flavors to blend.

What can you use stale bread for? ›

15 STALE BREAD RECIPES
  • BREADCRUMBS. A KitchenAid® Food Grinder Attachment1 with a stand mixer can turn hardened leftover bread into breadcrumbs. ...
  • CROUTONS. ...
  • FRENCH TOAST. ...
  • STRATA. ...
  • CASSEROLE. ...
  • CROSTINI. ...
  • BRUSCHETTA. ...
  • MEATBALLS.

Why is it called Israeli salad? ›

It was adopted by Jewish immigrants to the Levant in the late 19th century, who found the locally grown Kirby cucumbers and tomatoes in popular local salad. It was popularized in the kibbutzim, where the Jewish farmers had local fresh produce at hand. The name Israeli Salad is used mainly outside of Israel.

In which part of Italy did the dish panzanella originate? ›

Umbria, Tuscany

Do you eat bread with salad? ›

Salad on its own isn't easily filling and is quickly digested. Its normally served with bread as bread is cheap(much cheaper than salad ingredients in some places) and also filling and is also digested more slowly than salad so if you eat it with salad you will not be hungry a few minutes later.

What is the origin of panzanella salad? ›

Panzanella originated in the central Italian countryside, where farmers combined surplus vegetables with old bread to cut down on waste. They soaked the bread in cold water to give it a chewy texture, then tossed it with vinegar, herbs, and onions for a wonderfully tangy bite.

Why is it called panzanella? ›

The word Panzanella is thought to be a combination of two words: Pane, which is the Italian word for bread, and Zanella, the word for a soup tureen.

What are the best tomatoes for salads? ›

Cherry tomatoes are small, round tomatoes that are perfect for snacking and salads. As their namesake suggests, they are about the same size and shape as a cherry. Most cherry tomatoes are red, but they do come in other colors like yellow and orange.

What is fairy bread made of? ›

Fairy bread, which can be traced back to Australia and New Zealand, is simply sliced white bread spread with butter and covered with multi-colored round "hundreds and thousands," the Australian term for sprinkles. It is then typically cut into triangles.

What is semolina bread made of? ›

Semolina Bread is made from semolina flour and topped with sesame seeds, making for a crusty and hearty bread, perfect with dinner.

What is crystal bread made of? ›

Crystal-clear bread: how to make it

It's described as perfectly crispy and hollow and it's made using water, potato starch and kuzu (a starch and jelling agent made from the Kuzu root).

What part of Italy is panzanella from? ›

Panzanella comes from the regions of central Italy: Toscana, Lazio, Umbria, Marche and Abruzzo, but the Tuscan one is perhaps the most famous. At its most basic, it is a mix of old, dry bread, soaked, squeezed and crumbled, tomatoes, red onions and basil, dressed with oil and vinegar and eaten slightly chilled.

What is the definition of bread in Greek? ›

Etymology. Artos in Ancient Greek meant "cake", "loaf of wheat-bread", collectively "bread", but in Modern Greek it is now more commonly used in the context of communion bread used in church, having been replaced in the broader context by the word ψωμί, psomi.

Where did Israeli salad originate? ›

The History of Israeli Salad

While Israeli Salad is the well-known name for this dish, this recipe, like many other Middle Eastern recipes, originates from Palestine and Arab countries and is called vegetable salad. This includes hummus, falafel, etc.

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