PANZANELLA
Feeds 6
This Tuscan-inspired salad is a classic make-do dish when you don’t have much money. You have stale bread (that’s easy with gluten-free!), some ripe tomatoes, some other vegetables, and some leftover vinaigrette. Go. It’s funny that it has been elevated to some sort of gourmet dish. Really, you just tear apart bread with your hands, soak it in a vinaigrette with a strong acid kick, and throw in what you have. Summertime, late evening, this is one of my favorite meals in the world.
- For the vinaigrette
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil leaves
- Freshly grated zest and freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon
- 3 anchovies
- ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- For the salad
- ½ gluten-free Sourdough Bread baguette or boule, torn into pieces
- 2 pounds ripe tomatoes, chopped
- 2 large red bell peppers, diced
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces
- ¼ cup drained capers
Make the vinaigrette. Add the vinegar, basil, lemon zest and juice, and anchovies to a blender. Puree everything together. With the blender running on low, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until the vinaigrette is smooth and emulsified. Taste. Season with salt and pepper, but remember that the anchovies are salty and the capers in the salad will also add salt.
Soak the bread. Put the bread in a large bowl. Pour half the vinaigrette onto the bread and toss it to coat evenly. Set aside the bowl for 10 minutes.
Dress the vegetables. Put the tomatoes, peppers, basil, and capers into another bowl. Toss them with enough vinaigrette to coat but not enough to drown the vegetables. (You probably won’t use all of it yet.) Let the vegetables sit for 10 minutes.
Finish the salad. Combine the soaked bread and dressed vegetables. Toss together. If you feel you need to add more vinaigrette, do so here. Let the salad sit for 15 minutes before serving.