Simple and fresh, Panzanella is a typical Roman dish loved and consumed for many centuries.
The panzanella is a humble dish, born from the recovery of stale bread, but which still delights our palates combining seasonal vegetables.
In fact this is one of the classic grandmother’s recipe, especially during summer season. There are various versions of the origin of panzanella dish: some believe that the origin of Panzanella should be traced back to the peasants’ habit of wetting dry bread and then seasoning it with the vegetabes available in the garden. Others, however, think that the Panzanella was born on board fishing boats. In fact, it seems that the sailors used sea water to wet the stale bread and then consumed it together with vegetables and fish.
Ingredients
- stale bread
- onion
- basil
- cucumber
- tomato
- extra virgin olive oil
- vinegar
- salt
How to make panzanella
This recipe is so simple to prepare as the bruschetta. Take a slice of home-made stale bread and moisten with some water. Then open a fresh red tomato and rub it over the bread. Once the juice is absorbed by the bread, cut the bread into small pieces. Add some olive oil , salt and a few basil leaves. Cut the tomatoes, cucumbers and onion in cubes. Combine all the ingredients in a salad bowl and season with salt and oil. Then dress up your panzanella. Panzanella is an amazing way to do not waste your dry bread. In southern Italy (Puglia) there is a savour dried half donut named frisella. With frisella you can easily make panzanella, just dip your crackers into water, then dress it up as above.
