A recipe for holding onto wonder in the ordinary moments
Tuscany has many land-based culinary traditions. Turned out, they are quite resourceful cooks. Here, nothing goes to waste. They prefer using up every single ingredient at their disposal and stretching them to go as far as possible. Take panzanella, for example.
A traditional panzanella takes leftover Tuscan bread, torn into small-sized chunks and soaks in water just long enough to breathe life back into it. Then the bread is tossed with juicy tomatoes, fresh cucumbers, sharp onions, basil and a very generous drizzle of olive oil and red wine vinegar.
It’s ridiculously simple to make. Which means the secret lies in the quality of the ingredients. Simplicity isn’t plain. It’s profound.
A few ground rules
Bread is the focus of the salad. It should be crisp around the edges and slightly soft in the middle.
The tomatoes must be firm and perfectly ripe. So please, don't store your tomatoes in your fridge. Panzanella will taste the best in the summer, when the tomatoes are in season.
The best, and only, choice of olive oil is EVOO. Fresh, high-quality, with a mild-to-intense flavor.
Panzanella can be served hot, cold, at room temp, right away or the next day. The longer the ingredients mingle, the deeper the flavors become. And whatever you do, finish with fresh basil leaves, never dried.
Cominciamo!
What I used ( feel free to adjust the exact quantities to your liking)
✦ Bread (enough for two persons and a little more. Always a little more)
✦ 3 or 4 ripe tomatoes (I used Roma tomatoes, but use whatever’s available)
✦ 1,5 cucumber
✦ 1 large red onion
✦ Large bunch of fresh basil
✦ Extra virgin olive oil
✦ Red wine vinegar
As you can see, I’ve taken a little detour (sorry, Tuscany). Using repurposed bread is a clever way to cut down on food waste but my version of panzanella swaps out the stale bread. I use fresh bread, toasting it in the oven with olive oil. The result? Bread cubes with a crispy-oily crunch that add a whole new texture to the salad.
How I made it
✦ First, I tore the bread into small chunks. Tearing rather than cutting is key for the right texture.
✦ I placed the chunks on the oven rack and drizzled them with a little olive oil. They should feel lightly coated, wet to the touch but not saturated. Then into the oven they went, until golden and crispy.
Meanwhile, I diced the onions, tomatoes, and cucumber.
✦ I let it sit in the fridge for about an hour so the bread could soak up the tomato juices while the cucumber and onions gently marinated in the vinegar.
That's it! A Tuscan classic with a little twist of my own.
Why bread deserves a spot in your kitchen
Bringing Panzanella into your kitchen means bringing bread back into your life. Somewhere along the way, bread lost a bit of its glory. Pushed aside, judged, misunderstood. But bread has always been more than a carb.
Health-wise: bread is your body’s fuel. It gives you energy when you need it most and, when made from whole grains, bread brings fiber that keeps your digestion happy. Inside every slice live quit a lot of vitamins and minerals that help your skin, eyes, and nails stay healthy. And for new life growing inside you, bread offers folate, a small but powerful gift for pregnancy.
Taste-wise: bread is air turned into comfort. That first bite: light, soft, a whisper of salt, a trace of earth from the grain. It’s a flavor that connects us to the fields and the farmers, to mornings in the countryside, to stories baked and shared for generations.
Life-wise: nothing compares to the smell of freshly baked bread. Whether it’s in your kitchen or drifting from the bakery down the street, that scent slows time. It makes the world feel softer, kinder, easier to bear. So breathe it in. Let it remind you that some things are worth slowing down for.
Your turn
We all learn cooking in our own way. From our mothers, our grandfathers, a holiday abroad or a happy accident at home. These moments shape your taste, the ingredients shape your style. But taste and style are not fixed; they move along with the rhythm of your life.
A meal is never just a meal. It’s a memory. A moment. Your moment. So don’t think of recipes as strict rules. Think of them as gentle directions, little suggestions along the way. A here-and-now moment. And it's entirely yours. Because nobody tastes what you taste. Play with food, dance in your kitchen and find your own taste.
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