Panzanella: The Perfect Italian Salad for Summer
Hello, how are you? Welcome to Nicola's Pacific.
Today I'm going to show you how to prepare the Panzanella.
It's a fresh salad of bread and vegetables, tasty and very aromatic.
This simple and delicious dish is on the tables of all of Italy, especially in summer.
For the classic recipe of the Panzanella, it is preferred to use a home-made Tuscan bread
that is no longer fresh, from one or two days.
It also has tomatoes, purple onion, cucumber and, of course, fresh basil.
First, cut the bread into slices not very thin, one or one and a half centimeters thick.
This is a Tuscan bread, without salt and made with a crumb, and you can find the recipe in this same channel.
But if not, it can be any homemade bread with a good crumb.
Place the slices of bread in a bowl and sprinkle with a little water.
About 200 or 250 grams of water, depending on the type of bread.
It does not have to be submerged in water.
The bread is simply moistened and left to rest for about 40 or 45 minutes.
Next, cut a medium purple onion into very thin slices.
Put them in a bowl and let them soak with a little water, about 5 tablespoons,
and the same amount of white wine vinegar or alcohol.
Let them macerate for 15 or 20 minutes to soften them, mixing them from time to time.
Then the cucumber. One whole or half, depending on the size you get and the amount of salad you prepare.
Peel it, cut it in half lengthwise, and then into very thin slices.
Put them in a bowl and reserve. Do not forget to mix the onions from time to time.
And we continue with the tomatoes, which are very juicy and ripe.
They are cut into cubes.
Panzanella is a typical dish of poor Tuscan cuisine, but it is consumed throughout the central region of Italy.
From Tuscany to Le Marche, Umbria, Lazio and Abruzzo.
And where does the name of this salad come from?
It is a recipe of ancient origins, prior to the arrival of tomatoes to Europe.
It was a typically peasant meal prepared by the women of the house with leftover bread.
They took it to lunch to the fields where the men worked.
And they ate this wet bread sitting near the rainwater drainage ditches.
The zanella, hence the name. Bread that is eaten in the zanella.
The panzanella.
Once the tomatoes are chopped into cubes, they are then put together with the cucumbers
and the previously drained onion is added.
Then the soaked bread is crumbled in a salad bowl.
And if it is very wet, it is squeezed a little.
As I said, it should not be soaked, but wet.
The tomato, sliced cucumbers and onion are mixed well and added to the bread.
And finally, some fresh basil leaves are added, chopped by hand.
Everything is mixed very well and left to rest in the refrigerator for about an hour.
Then it is seasoned with 2 tablespoons of vinegar, salt to taste,
a pinch of ground black pepper and 2 or 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
Everything is mixed very well and if they do it in advance, it is seasoned a few minutes before serving,
so as not to ruin the consistency of the vegetables.
And now it is ready to take to the table and enjoy it in all its freshness.
It is an ideal dish for the summer, fresh and aromatic.
And a good option to take advantage of the bread that is no longer so fresh.
I hope you liked the recipe and I encourage you to try it.
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As always, thank you very much for having dedicated a few minutes to watch this video.
I am Andres from Nicola's Pastry and I say goodbye until the next recipe.
Bye, see you later.