Winter Panzanella (Bread Salad) & More Panzanella Recipes

January 7, 2017 at 8:59 am · Filed under Recipes, Tip Of The Day, Vegetables-Salads-Herbs

Winter Panzanella Salad With Squash
[1] Panzanella with the wintery flavors of delicata squash and sage (photo © Good Eggs).

Bread Salad Recipe
[2] The bright colors in this winter panzanella are cubed beets and pomegranate arils. Here’s the recipe (photo © Food 52).

Ham & Rye Panzanella Salad
[3] “Ham on rye” bread salad with rye croutons and cubed ham. Enhance the effect by adding some Dijon mustard to the vinaigrette (photo: The Nibble).

Panzanella Crostini
[4] Panzanella with a twist: Instead of bread in the salad, the salad is on top of crostini. At The Tuck Room | NYC.

White Bean & Fried Egg Panzanella
[5] This panzanella adds white beans and a fried egg, although you can certainly switch the protein (photo © Sunbasket).

Bread salad, like French toast and croutons, is one of those delicious foods invented by necessity: Poor people needed to get another meal from bread that had gone stale.

These days, people of means enjoy the salad at smart Italian cafes and at home. Below are some easy recipes.

Below:

> The history of panzanella salad.

> Mix-and-match winter panzanella recipe.

> More panzanella recipes.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The history of panzanella.

> The history of bread.

> The different types of bread: a photo glossary.

> The year’s 20+ bread holidays.

> The difference between prosciutto and serrano ham.

> The different types of ham: a photo glossary.

THE HISTORY OF PANZANELLA SALAD

While some type of bread salad likely cropped up wherever people ate bread, panzanella is a Tuscan-style bread salad made with a loaf of day-old (or older) Italian bread, cubed into large croutons and soaked in vinaigrette to soften it. Chopped salad vegetables are added.

The translation we have found for “panzanella” is “bread in a swamp,” the swamp being the vinaigrette in which it the bread was soaked. When there wasn’t enough oil to spare, the bread was moistened in water.

While today’s recipes are rich in ingredients, the original preparers foraged to pull together vegetables from the garden: cucumber, onion, tomato—and possibly purslane, a salad green that grows wild. Early recipes were heavy on the onions, the cheapest ingredient to pair with the bread.

This peasant dish has become a popular first course in Italy. It doesn’t appear often on menus of U.S.-based Italian restaurants. That’s too bad, because it’s a dish worth knowing; but it’s also a salad that’s easy to make…

Especially when you have a leftover baguette or other loaf, as we often do. (If you stick the leftovers in the freezer for some TBD use, put it to use!)

While crusty Italian loaves were used in the original, you can use any bread from challah to semolina raisin to sourdough.

Bread salad is not a lettuce salad. You should toss in some small greens with a bite—arugula, mustard greens and watercress, along with radishes and red onions. But keep the mesclun mix and romaine for lettuce salads.

RECIPE: MIX-AND-MATCH WINTER PANZANELLA SALAD

Winter is no time to repurpose summer vegetables like tomatoes, yellow squash and zucchini. Instead, look for year-round options and root vegetables. (Here’s a list of winter fruits and vegetables.)

You can add the root vegetables raw or roasted. Carrots are a dual-usage veg, as are beets, celery roots and turnips—the latter ideally halved or cut into very thin slices.

Pick Your Ingredients

Bell peppers

Capers

Celery

Cheese: cubed, shredded

Cherry or grape tomatoes

Citrus: orange or red grapefruit segments

Cucumbers

Crucifers: arugula, bok choy, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, kale, kohlrabi, mizuna, mustard greens, radish, rapeseed/canola, rapini (broccoli rabe), rutabaga, tatsoi, turnips, watercress*

Herbs: basil, cilantro, dill, parsley, sage

Mushrooms

Onions

Protein: anchovies, chicken/turkey, ham, hard-boiled eggs, prosciutto, sardines, tuna

Non-crucifer root vegetables, raw or roasted: beets, carrots, Jerusalem artichokes, jicama, parsnips, radishes turnips

Spices: crushed coriander seeds, fennel seeds, red flakes

Winter greens: chard, collards, kale, rapini

Winter squash, roasted (acorn, butternut, etc.)

Garnishes

Cheese: crumbled

Nuts and seeds, including pomegranate arils

Roasted garlic cloves

Herbs

Plan a variety of colors; not just green but red (e.g. beets, bell pepper, grapefruit), orange (e.g. mandarins, oranges, winter squash) and yellow (beets, bell peppers, cherry/grape tomatoes).

Don’t forget to season with salt and freshly-ground pepper.

Vinaigrette

Lastly, you need a good vinaigrette. Pick your favorite or use a the conventional red wine vinegar and EVOO, with or without an added half teaspoon of mushrooms.

The emphasis is on “good”: Red wine vinegar can be stringent. Seek out the good stuff. Good doesn’t mean expensive:

Pompeian, about $2.60 for 16 ounces.

Holland House Red Wine Vinegar, about $3.29 for 12 ounces

Laurent du Clos, $5.49 for 16.9 ounces (worth it!)

The traditional vinaigrette ratio is 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar; the recipes above are written as such. But the important thing to keep in mind is that you are the only one who knows exactly how acidic and how viscous you want your dressing to be.

More oil will mute flavors but add body and mouthfeel.

More acidity can be helpful if the salad ingredients have stronger flavor (think heartier greens).

To add pungency (e.g., with mustard) or sweetness (e.g., with honey), start with a half teaspoon per half cup of vinaigrette. Taste and adjust to your preference.

Panzanella With Burrata & Delicata Squash
[6] Panzanella with burrata and roasted delicata squash (photo © Good Eggs).

MORE PANZANELLA RECIPES