Panzanella

Recently, I was asked if I’d ever made a panzanella salad.  In fact, I’d never even eaten a panzanella salad, let alone make one.

Panzanella

So a few nights ago, I was going to have dinner with my sister.  And I decided to try making a panzanella salad, knowing that it would be quite quick and easy.

A panzanella generally consists of tomatoes and usually onions too, with bread, and olive oil and vinegar, with basil.  The bread is generally stale and so it is soaked and then dried before being added to the salad.  Well, I didn’t have any stale bread in the house, so I bought a ciabatta and put it in the oven at about 350F for 10 minutes or so, took it out, let it cool, and then cut it into bit sized pieces, to match the pieces of greenhouse tomatoes I’d cut up.  I added finely chopped onions, and made my usual salad dressing of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sea salt, garlic, and freshly ground black pepper.  I tossed the tomatoes, onions, and bread together, and then drizzled it with the dressing, and topped it with finely chopped fresh basil and parsley (from my own garden - I’ll explain that in a moment).  And there it was - a panzanella salad ready in about 15 minutes, and absolutely delicious.  My suggested wine pairing really depends on your mood.  Serving the salad as an appetizer?  Go with a Prosecco (sparkling Italian white wine).  If you want something light and fresh, go with a Vermentino from Sardegna.  For a red that’s light enough and make sure you serve it slightly cool (cellar temperature is around 55F, which is correct for serving - not room temperature which is quite a bit warmer!), I’d go with a Sangiovese, which is the main grape in most Tuscan reds, including Chianti.

Tomato plants

So about this garden - many Italian families believe that women do the cooking and men do the gardening.  However, I’ve met plenty of men of Italian heritage in the past several years who know how to cook as well as garden.  So why can’t a woman do the gardening and the cooking too?  I decided that in addition to my cooking, this spring/summer season I’d try my hand at gardening.  And a couple of weeks later, I’ve got 4 healthy tomato plants, a small eggplant seedling making progress daily, and an army of herb plants including basil, parsley, cilantro, oregano, sage, chives, rosemary, and thyme.  What was fascinating to me is that yesterday when I went up on the roof (yes, I planted them in pots on the widow’s walk on top of the house - for maximum sunlight and protection from the wildlife in the yard), three out of the four tomato plants already had fruit on them!  I guess there will be plenty of panzanella this summer, and lots of other dishes using the tomatoes and herbs and hopefully eggplants that I’m growing - and they’re 100% organic too!