Ready to meet your new favourite salad? My take on a Panzanella salad is based on a traditional Italian recipe, is vegan (minus the halloumi) and uses just 2 main ingredients: bread and tomatoes.

Although it is getting colder, nothing makes me feel better than a hearty and healthy salad for lunch. I don’t know when I first stumbled across a recipe for this salad, but it has been my favourite ever since.

The traditional Panzanella recipe is supposed to come from Tuscany. I tried to find a traditional recipe for this but I only found one, and someone had left a comment saying that ‘it was lightyears away from a traditional Tuscan panzanella’. And although I usually like to stick to a traditional recipe, I love the way I make it.

This recipe is vegan, as long as you choose a bread that doesn’t contain any dairy or egg. Although this recipe does take an hour, it really only takes a few minutes to put together. To make a really, really great salad, you need to salt the tomatoes and leave in a sieve for at least 45 minutes. The salt draws all of the juice out of the tomato, which goes to make the dressing. Trust me, it’s worth leaving them for 45 minutes.

Aside from bread and tomatoes, all you need is a little bit of onion, a garlic clove, and a few dressing ingredients. Oh, and basil. I’ve decided to serve mine with a little halloumi for a bit of extra texture, but that’s definitely not traditional and if you are making a vegan meal, you should definitely not add it!

The bread you choose really is a personal choice. I just use regular white bread, but I think crust bread or sourdough would go really well with this too. Just go with what you have available.

Whether you love or hate salads, you will adore this. I mean, it’s just bread and tomatoes, what’s not to love?

How to make panzanella salad

Servings: 1-2 (depending on how hungry you are!)

Prep time: 45 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• 2 slices of bread, or around 110g of your choice of bread
• 1 or 2 large handfuls of tomatoes (any will do!)
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• Olive oil
• 1/2 tbsp of finely diced onion
• 1 garilc clove, finely diced (or 1/4 tsp garlic granules)
• 1/2 teaspoon dijon
• 1-2 tsp white wine vinegar
• 1-2tsp of honey (or alternative if you don’t eat honey)
• 1 handful of basil
• Salt and pepper to serve
• Optional: mozarella, feta, red onion, cucumber, halloumi…

Panzanella recipe

1. 1 hour before you want to eat, chop up 1 or 2 handfuls of tomato and put into a colander. If you have lots of different types of tomatoes, chunk them all in.
2. Place over a bowl and cover generously with salt. Leave for about 45 minutes.
3. After 45 minutes, use your hands to squeeze the rest of the juice out of the tomatoes, as this makes the base to the dressing. Put the tomatoes into a bowl.
4. Meanwhile, toast or oven cook your bread till it is crisp and leave to cool.
5. Dice a little bit of an onion as fine as you possibly can and put it into the tomato juice. Next, finely, finely dice a garlic clove and add to the juice. Add the mustard, the vinegar and a little honey if you like a little sweetness like I do. Taste and add the seasioning. Don’t be afraid to alter these ingredients if you don’t like/really love one ingredient don’t be afraid to add more or less. Keep tasting your dressing till it is perfect to you.
6. Start drizzling a little olive oil to the dressing, and whisk. Keep adding the olive oil, there’s no quantity for this but I usually add 2 or 3 glugs.
7. To serve, chop up the bread and add to the tomatoes. Pour the dressing over the bread and tomatoes and mix well. Add the basil and any other ingredients you love and serve immediately.

Tips: although there is nothing better than eating the bread that has been soaked in this dressing, don’t make this salad until you’re ready to eat, as the bread will disintegrate if you leave it for too long.

If you like Italian(ish) recipes, why not try my caramelised onion focaccia or pea pesto spaghetti?