Panzanella [Photo credits: Aurelio Barattini]
Panzanella is a cold bread salad whose name of uncertain origins probably derives from pan short for pane or bread and zanella an old italian name for a bowl. Bocaccio, who is from Certaldo, mentions this dish in the mid 14th century and Bronzino, famous florentine Renaissance painter even writes a poem to celebrate this tasty salad. Of course this version of the panzanella, didn’t have any tomatoes as they still hadn’t been brought over from America but plenty of onions, in fact Certaldo Onions.
So, for our fast Monday recipe – here it is, DivinaCucina’s authentic tuscan version:
Ingredients – Serve 4
- 1 pound stale tuscan bread (unsalted)
- 3 tomatoes, cut into 8ths
- 2 red onions, thinly slices
- 1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
- Basil
- Olive oil
- Vinegar
- Salt
Preparation
Soak the sliced stale bread in cold water for 10 minutes. Squeeze out the water and crumble the bread into a serving bowl.
Add tomatoes, cucumber, onions and basil. Season will olive oil and salt.
Mix well and let sit. Before serving, add vinegar and mix again. Serve with olive oil, vinegar, and salt on the side.
*Make sure the Panzanella is cold before serving.
![[Photo credits: Cooperativa Zenzero http://ow.ly/gJDqq]](http://www.turismo.intoscana.it/allthingstuscany/tuscanycious/files/2012/10/foto1.jpg)
Very good, I like that you didn't mention strange ingredients like carrots or mustard or things like cheese and peppers. If you go on YouTube and look for Panzanella there are the most crazy “Chefs” that are not from Tuscany (not eather from Italy!) that have these orrible receipes were they put everything they find in their kitchen…. roba da non credere!
Thanks for your advice – I will look immediately and maybe post some of these funny videos!
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I absolutely love panzanella! I’m not sure it would taste the same in states. There is something about that bread and those amazing tomatoes that makes it so fresh. I made both chunky and almost smooth panzanella this summer in Florence and both were great.
Hi Ashlea I’m sure that if you stick to this recipe and find juicy organic tomatoes it will be pretty close! In any case I wrote another post on what you shouldn’t do in order to make a good panzanella http://www.turismo.intoscana.it/allthingstuscany/tuscanycious/tomato-bread-salad-recipe/
Let me know what you think
Have just made my second round of authentic Panzanella here in Texas….pretty darn close to what I found in Florence! I had to make my own Tuscan bread, found super fresh home-grown tomatoes, have my own basil plants, and used the finest olive oil from Casamonti (Castellina in Chianti). Mmmmmm…..still licking my lips!! Thanks, Oriana, for all your wonderful posts!
Hi Paula! Thank you so much and I am so proud of you! Bravo, for chosing quality and achieving great results! Please let me know if there’s anything else you’d like me to write about
One of my favourite memories of Italy, thanks so much for sharing the recipe.
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