Panzanella (Bread salad)

This dish, traditionally prepared in homes throughout Tuscany, has a rustic, fresh and light flavor and is perfect to serve on a humid, summer day.

Panzanella (Bread salad)

Time 30 minutes Difficulty Course Appetizers Italian Region Toscana

INGREDIENTS
Servings 4

1 lb rustic bread 2 tomatoes, ripened 2 red onions 1 cucumber 1 sprig basil extra virgin olive oil to taste vinegar to taste salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION
30 minutes preparation Cut the bread into slices and soak in cold water for a couple of minutes. Once heavy with water, remove a little bread at a time and squeeze out excess water using your hands. Then break apart into small, dry crumbs. Place in a salad bowl and add tomatoes, cucumbers and sliced onion and basil leaves. Dress with oil, salt and pepper and move to a cool place. When it is time to serve, add a splash of wine vinegar.

FOOD HISTORY
Mentioned by Boccaccio in the Decameron as pan lavato (or washed bread), panzanella is undoubtedly a rustic dish, originally made in peoples homes. It is commonly believes that the dish developed out of the custom of country folk to soak their old, stale bread in water and mix it with vegetables from the garden. According to some, the word panzanella comes from the fusion of the words pane(or bread) and zanella (or soup bowl), while others believe it derives from the word panzana that originally meant pappa (or food). Regardless, panzanella has always been enjoyed by people of all social classes, demonstrated by the fact that Agnolo di Cosimo, an artist who frequented the Medici court, dedicated a sonnet to the dish in his book Della cipolla, published in the 16th century. Another noble version of panzanella seems to have been served to Vittorio Emanuele, the King of Italy, by statesman Bettino Ricasoli, in 1865. At the time, the King was a guest in Ricasolis castle in Chianti for a hunting trip. The green of the basil, the white of the bread and the red of the tomato, recalled the colors of the newborn Italian Kingdom.