Gluten-Free Panzanella (Italian Bread Salad)
Description
You can use whatever vegetables you like here. Don’t skimp on the tomatoes or the fresh tomato vinaigrette, as they both help to provide some liquid that soaks into the breadcrumbs and helps to soften them up.
Ingredients
For the Salad:
For the Tomato Vinaigrette:
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 400˚F.
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Use your hands to pull apart your leftover gluten-free sourdough bread into small, bite-sized chunks.
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Drizzle the chunks with a tiny bit of olive oil, and bake the torn bread crumbs in the oven until they are warmed-through and lightly crispy, or about six minutes.
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While the breadcrumbs are baking, rinse the sliced onions under cold water in a strainer, and then drain and dry on paper towels.
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Add the sliced onions to a mixing bowl with the cut bell peppers and sliced black olives.
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Add the cut tomatoes to a bowl with the Kosher salt, and allow the tomatoes to sit in the bowl for about five minutes.
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When the breadcrumbs are done warming-up, remove them from the oven.
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Drain the tomatoes, and add them to the mixing bowl with the other vegetables.
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Add the lightly-toasted breadcrumbs from earlier, and season everything with a pinch of Kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper.
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For the tomato vinaigrette, simple blend together the cored Roma tomato with the olive oil, Kosher salt, black pepper, and sherry vinegar.
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Strain the contents through a fine mesh strainer, and reserve the strained mixture for use as your tomato vinaigrette.
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Divide the breadcrumbs and vegetables from earlier onto serving plates or into bowls.
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Top each serving with the tomato vinaigrette.
Note
Lightly salting the cut tomatoes and allowing them to rest in a small bowl gives the salt time to infuse into the tomato, and also helps the tomatoes release some water. Simply drain the excess water from the salted tomatoes before adding them to your salad.
I like to rinse my cut onions, as it helps remove some of the sulfuric compounds that form on the surface of the onions after they are cut. This gives them a cleaner, less intense onion flavor that makes them more enjoyable to eat raw—try this trick out and let me know what you think!
