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Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Panzanella

Oh! I feel such disappointment when a waxy tomato, pale as the moon, shows up while dining out! What a missed opportunity. These flavorless things that some restaurants try to pass off as tomatoes are just outrageous. I wonder why they even bother to serve them at all. 

But there’s no excuse for such nonsense right now. Summer’s here and the time is ripe for tomatoes! Grab them while they are in high season to make the best bread salad tossed with roasted peppers, olives, anchovies, and basil. Tuscany is just a breath away!

Panzanella 
Adapted from Saveur magazine
Ingredients
3 loaves ciabatta (Italian slipper bread, stale)
2 1⁄4 lb. fresh plum tomatoes
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed with salt
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Tuscan extra-virgin olive oil
4 tbsp. red wine vinegar
3 red bell peppers (time-saving roasted peppers from a jar would certainly work)*
3 yellow bell peppers 
4 oz. salted capers
6 anchovy filets
5 oz. black olives, pitted
Leaves from 1 bunch basil

Instructions
Cut bread into rough, thick slices, and place in a large bowl.

Peel and halve tomatoes, then seed them into a sieve over a bowl to retain juice. Set tomato halves aside. Discard seeds. Season juice with garlic, black pepper, 1 cup olive oil, and 2–3 tbsp. vinegar. Pour juice over bread and toss until it absorbs all the liquid. If more liquid is required to soak bread completely, add more olive oil.

Blacken peppers over a grill or gas burner *(or use the jar variety), then peel, seed, and cut lengthwise into eighths.

Rinse salt from capers and soak in remaining vinegar.

Gently mix together tomato halves, peppers, drained capers, anchovies, olives, and basil.

Fill a large bowl with alternating layers of soaked bread and pepper mixture, beginning with bread and ending with pepper mixture. Allow to sit for 1 hour at room temperature. Serve moistened with additional extra-virgin olive oil.

 

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