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    Home » SALADS

    Italian Peach Panzanella Bread Salad

    July 16, 2016

    This Italian peach panzanella is a bread salad with peaches, tomatoes, red onions, basil, mint, burrata, and garlicky ciabatta for a quick summer salad.
    Italian panzanella bread salad with peaches, tomatoes, red onions, basil, mint, burrata, and garlicky ciabatta.

    One of the many things I love about Italian food is its simplicity. Most Italian dishes don't have a ton of ingredients, allowing each ingredient to shine. A good example is panzanella salads. And just so you know, the word panzanella sounds a lot fancier than it really is -- it just means a bread salad.

    Panzanella bread salads, native to Tuscany, likely originated with farmers harvesting tomatoes, cucumbers, and basil, and tossing them with bread baked earlier in the week. Soaking the stale bread in the tomato juices moistened it enough to pull it apart into hunks for a salad. Life was hard, and nothing was wasted. Not even stale bread.

    My twist on this dish adds peaches to the tomatoes, some red onion, and mint. I didn't have any stale bread on hand, so I tossed hunks of ciabatta bread in olive oil and garlic, and toasted them for large garlic croutons. I loosely separated the ball of burrata to add at the end.

    This dish comes together quickly, and boasts the flavors of summer. But I make panzanella all year long, with squash in autumn, broccoli in winter, and asparagus in spring. I also make another summer version using grilled eggplant with the tomatoes. The true secret of this dish is to use peak season fruits or vegetables and lots of crispy garlic croutons.

    Print Recipe
    5 from 1 vote

    Italian Peach Panzanella Bread Salad

    A twist on the traditional Italian Bread Salad. The original form uses tomatoes and stale (or toasted) bread. This version adds ripe peaches, basil and mint to the mix. This recipe makes 2 main dish salads or 4 - 6 sides.
    Prep Time15 mins
    Cook Time15 mins
    Macerating Time30 mins
    Total Time30 mins
    Course: Salad Main Dish
    Cuisine: Italian
    Keyword: panzanella
    Servings: 2 servings
    Calories: 815kcal
    Author: The Wimpy Vegetarian

    Ingredients

    • ½ red onion, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
    • ½ cup white balsamic vinegar, - I used one that's peach flavored
    • ½ loaf of ciabatta bread, torn in 1 ½" cubes (about 6 cups)
    • ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
    • 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
    • ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
    • 4 ripe peaches, pitted, and sliced ½-inch thick (about 4 cups)
    • 2 cups chopped ripe tomatoes
    • ¼ cup torn basil leaves, plus more for serving
    • ¼ cup torn mint leaves, plus more for serving
    • 2 handfuls arugula or your favorite lettuce, optional
    • 2 tablespoons sherry wine vinegar
    • 8 ounce ball burrata cheese,

    Instructions

    • Place the red onion in a small bowl with the vinegar, and macerate for 30 minutes.
    • In a medium bowl, toss the bread pieces with ¼ cup olive oil, garlic, and salt together to completely coat the bread pieces. Lay out on a baking sheet and broil for 10 minutes until well-browned; turn over and broil for another 5 minutes.
    • In a large bowl, gently toss together the bread, peaches, tomatoes, basil, mint, and greens (if using).
    • Whisk together the sherry vinegar with the remaining ¼ cup olive oil. Drizzle over the salad.
    • Just before serving, add the cheese and a last flourish of mint and basil.

    Notes

    The calories were calculated using VeryWell Fit nutrition calculator, and assumes the recipe makes 2 main dish servings. 

    Nutrition

    Calories: 815kcal
    « Grilled Peaches with Ginger a la Mode
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Liz

      July 17, 2016 at 10:24 am

      Oh, my. Burrata. Peaches. Tomatoes! Sounds heavenly!!!

      • The Wimpy Vegetarian

        July 18, 2016 at 4:59 pm

        Thanks so much Liz! It was so refreshing!

    2. Carlee

      July 17, 2016 at 8:03 pm

      That looks so good. You have my mouth watering. A nice helping of this sounds like the perfect summer dinner.

    3. Charlie

      July 18, 2016 at 6:33 am

      This looks great!

      Thought I would tell you the link in the newsletter isn't working.

    4. Eileen

      July 18, 2016 at 12:14 pm

      What a great take on panzanella. I'll definitely be making this salad for dinner this summer.

    5. Serena | Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch

      July 20, 2016 at 10:31 pm

      I love this Salad and can't wait to make it! Such a fun spin on a traditional salad!

    6. Cindy Kerschner

      July 23, 2016 at 6:08 am

      What a refreshing lunch idea!

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