I took the classic summer panzanella salad and turned it into a spring panzanella salad and it’s the best salad I’ve ever had. Featuring seasonal vegetables like radish and arugula, salami, burrata, sourdough bread seasoned with parmesan and Italian herbs, hard-boiled eggs and an olive oil dressing. Each ingredient plays an integral role in the deep flavors of this salad. The radish and arugula provide freshness and crunch, the salami adds a nice salty flavor, the burrata adds a sweet creaminess, the sourdough is savory and the dressing is tangy. It’s a powerful combination.
What is panzanella salad?
Panzanella is a traditional Italian salad whose star ingredient is stale bread. It’s suspected that this dish was created as a way to use up old bread by combining it with fresh vegetables – typically onions, cucumbers and tomatoes – as well as oil, vinegar and fresh herbs. Traditionally, the bread was soaked in water and squeezed dry as a way to bring life back to the bread. Cool enough, I still see this method being used to rehydrate stale bread.
How to revive stale bread
Next time you have a loaf of stale bread, soak it in water or simply run it over the tap with either hot or cold water. Avoid soaking any cut sides. The staler the bread, the more you should soak it. Set the loaf directly on the oven rack at 300 F for about 5 minutes. Check the loaf to see if it feels dry. If not, bake for another 5 minutes. The bread should feel soft and tender again once ready.
Do you need stale bread to make this spring panzanella salad?
No, you do not! I have made it several times with fresh bread. If you’re using fresh bread for this salad, you can follow the directions below exactly as written. If using stale bread, I recommend making the salad as written and letting it sit for about an hour before serving to give the bread time to soak up the dressing. I don’t think soaking the bread in water beforehand is necessary unless the bread is very hard.
Can you make panzanella salad ahead of time?
Yes, you can! If you used fresh bread, I would recommend not adding the bread until an hour or so before serving to prevent it from getting soggy. Prepare the rest of the ingredients along with the dressing in your salad bowl, bake the bread as written in the recipe and mix in the baked bread 1-2 hours before serving.
Kitchen essentials
- A cutting board
- A bread knife
- A rimmed sheet pan
- A basting brush
- A saucepan
- A mandolin (optional)
- Measuring cups + measuring spoons
- A salad bowl
- Large serving forks or salad tongs
Substitutions
- Red wine vinegar:Â can be substituted with equal parts white wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar.
- Burrata: I highly recommend using burrata here for extra creaminess, but you could also use sliced fresh mozzarella.
- Sourdough bread: hearty breads like Italian or ciabatta will also work well in this salad.
Spring Panzanella + Burrata Salad
Course: Main DishesDifficulty: Easy3
25
minutes12
minutes37
minutesIngredients
6 oz. sourdough bread, cut into 1″ cubes
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp grated parmesan
2 tsp Italian seasoning
3 eggs
1 lb. radishes, leaves removed
7 oz. salami
2.5 cups arugula
6 oz. burrata
- Dressing
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Lay out the cubed bread in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Use a basting brush to brush each piece of bread with olive oil. Then evenly sprinkle on the parmesan and Italian seasoning. Bake for 12 minutes.
- In the meantime, hard boil the eggs. Add the eggs to a saucepan and add enough water to cover by 1 inch. Bring the water to a boil. Once boiling, remove the saucepan from the heat and cover for 12 minutes. Transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water for another 5 minutes. Then you can peel back the shells and cut eggs in half lengthwise.
- Prepare the rest of the salad. Slice the radishes thinly (a mandolin is helpful here). Cut the salami into small strips (see photos for size reference). In your salad bowl, combine the radishes, salami, and arugula. Once the bread is ready, add that in too.
- Add in the dressing. You can pour all the ingredients for the dressing directly into your salad bowl and mix well. Finish off the salad by topping with the hard-boiled eggs. Break open the burrata and add that as well. Enjoy!
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Nutrition Facts
3 servings per container
Serving Size1 servings
Calories920
- Amount Per Serving% Daily Value *
- Total Fat
68.2g
105%
- Saturated Fat 21.2g 106%
- Trans Fat 0.5g
- Cholesterol 298.0mg 100%
- Amount Per Serving% Daily Value *
- Total Carbohydrate
41.7g
14%
- Dietary Fiber 5.8g 24%
- Sugars 8.3g
- Protein 39.2g 79%
* The % Daily Value tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
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