Panzanella from Molly MacRae

 

Here’s a salad that's aching for summer days with fresh tomatoes, basil, and cucumbers. Panzanella recipes often call for day-old bread, but the cooks at America’s Test Kitchen think that lightly toasting pieces of a fresh loaf works even better. Through toasting, the bread loses just enough moisture to then absorb the flavorful dressing without becoming mushy. They also suggest salting and draining the tomatoes to remove excess juice and intensify their flavor—and collecting that wonderful juice to use in the dressing.

We thoroughly enjoyed this version of panzanella and also immediately dreamed of multiple variations. Now you can, too. Make it your own! 

Panzanella

Adapted from The Complete Plant-Based Cookbook

 

Ingredients

1 (1-pound) loaf rustic Italian or French bread, torn or cut into 1-inch pieces (6 cups)

½ cup olive oil, divided

¾ teaspoon salt, divided

1 ½ pounds ripe tomatoes, cored, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon capers

2 cloves garlic, minced

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and sliced thin

1 shallot, sliced thin

2 avocados, chopped (or scooped if very ripe)

¼ cup chopped fresh basil

 

Directions

With oven rack in middle, heat oven to 400 ℉. Toss bread pieces with 2 tablespoons olive oil and ¼ teaspoon salt in bowl and spread in single layer on rimmed baking sheet. Toast bread until just starting to turn light golden, 15 to 20 minutes, stirring halfway through baking. Let cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, gently toss tomatoes with remaining ¼ teaspoon salt in large bowl. Transfer to colander set over now-empty bowl and let drain for 15 minutes, tossing occasionally.

Whisk vinegar, pepper, capers, garlic, and remaining 6 tablespoons oil into drained tomato juices. Add toasted bread, toss to coat, and let sit for 10 minutes, tossing occasionally. Add drained tomatoes, cucumber, shallot, avocadoes, and basil, and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve immediately.

 

Look for Molly’s new series—The Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries—coming in July 2024!

Book 1: Come Shell or High Water

In the meantime, enjoy visiting the Scottish Highlands and the hills and hollows of east Tennessee in Molly's other books - available in libraries and everywhere books are sold.

 

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Twitter  or Instagram.

 

 

 

Welcome Guest Jen Collins Moore & Roasted Artichoke & Fresh Mozzarella Panzanella #bookgiveaway

MOLLY here: I’m so excited to welcome Jen Collins Moore to Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen as my first guest. Her book is funny and just as warm and inviting as this recipe. Jen does all the food photography for her meal kit company, Meez Meals based in Chicago, hence these gorgeous pictures. Yum!

Travel to Rome with debut novelist Jen Collins Moore’s Murder in the Piazza

Like my detective Maggie White, I’m in love with Italian food. Particularly the summer variety, which is high in flavor and light on effort. This Italian bread salad fits the bill: it’s just ten minutes of hands-on cooking and perfect for eating on a balcony overlooking a bustling piazza, taking on a picnic on Janiculum Hill with its panoramic views over the Eternal City, or anywhere you’re currently calling home.

This salad is FLEXIBLE. Adjust the flavors and ingredients to your taste. I promise it’ll be delicious.

Roasted Artichoke & Fresh Mozzarella Panzanella

Serves 2, Scales Easily

Ingredients

1 pint cherry tomatoes

2 15 oz cans of artichokes, drained

10 basil leaves

½ cucumber

1 Tbsp capers

2 cups of great bread, cut into ½” cubes (baguettes, sourdough and Italian all work well)

4 oz fresh mozzarella

1 cup cannellini beans, canned or cooked

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

½ tsp Dijon mustard

½ tsp sea salt, plus more for roasting

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

Ingredients

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 450. I preheat a rimmed baking sheet at the same time so my ingredients get a jump start as soon as they go into the oven.

Put the artichokes into a large mixing bowl and drizzle with olive and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add to your hot baking sheet and cook for 5 minutes.

After five minutes, put the bread chunks into the now-empty mixing bowl and drizzle with more oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Use a generous hand, here. The oil makes a difference. Mix well, then add to the baking sheet with the artichokes. Give everything a  stir and cook for 10 more minutes, stirring once halfway through.

cut bread into chunks

 coat bread chunks with oil

roast artichokes and bread chunks

Once the artichokes are browned and the bread is toasted, transfer it back to your mixing bowl.

While the artichokes and bread are cooking, prepare the rest of your ingredients. Cut the mozzarella into bite-size chunks, drain the beans, rinse, and halve your tomatoes, sliver the basil, and cut your cucumber into bite-size chunks, and add to the mixing bowl.

chop veggies

Now mix up the dressing in a jar or second mixing bowl. Combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper. Taste with a bit of bread or a piece of cucumber and adjust the seasonings to your taste. Drizzle half over the salad and mix well, then add more if it needs a little extra.

The salad is ready to eat warm or put it in the fridge to enjoy up to two days later. As it rests, the bread will soak up oil and juices and takes on a whole new flavor.

This looks so good!

Readers: Now it’s your turn. What flavors transport you to Rome? Please share in the comments below for a chance to win a copy of my book. And join my mailing list for a second chance. Both contests close 6/15/21.

 

Jen Collins Moore transports readers to Rome in her new series, the Maggie White Mysteries. The perfect blend of funny and smart, Jen's debut novel, Murder in the Piazza, is filled with the art, history, and food of Europe's greatest city. The founder of Meez Meals, Chicago’s most popular meal kit, Jen lives in the Windy City with her husband and two sons when she's not traveling the globe.

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Jen’s website

Tuscan Tomato and Bread Salad AKA Panzanella

LUCY BURDETTE: If I've caught you at the right time, you might have tomatoes and basil left in your fall garden, but not a lot else. Anyway, that's our situation--and it's the perfect time to make Tuscan Tomato and Bread Salad, otherwise known as panzanella. 

There are tons of variations, so feel free to leave out an ingredient if you don't like it or adjust the quantities.

ingredients

3-5 ripe tomatoes, chopped into chunks and mostly seeded
3-4 peppers, different colors preferably (I used one red, one yellow, and two small green), seeded and chopped into chunks
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 cucumber, washed, seeded and chunked
20 or so basil leaves, chopped
3 tablespoons capers

About 6 cups of good bread, cubed 
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 tsp. Kosher salt

1/2 cup vinaigrette (Mix 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt, sugar, good French mustard in a small jar. Add a splash of water and shake until combined. Add 1/4 cup good olive oil and shake again. Add 1/8 cup balsamic vinegar, shake again.)

Wash, seed and chunk all the vegetables and combine them in a large bowl. Try to remove most of the seeds and juice from the tomatoes. Mix in basil and capers.

In a large frying pan, melt the butter and olive oil with the salt. Saute the bread cubes about 10 minutes or until crispy and brown. (Try not to eat too many of the croutons before you serve!) This is where I use up the ends and semi-stale pieces of bread in our freezer--we buy a nice loaf each week from the farmer's market and there's always a little left over.

 

Fold the croutons into the vegetables, add the vinaigrette, and toss gently. Serve after 15-30 minutes, giving the flavors time to mix and mingle.

Then sit back and accept the compliments!



 



 Murder With Ganache, the fourth book in Lucy's Key West series, will be out in February 2014-chocolate for Valentine's day! You can preorder right here.




Lucy is the author of the Key West food critic mysteries, available wherever books are sold! You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.