Spring Green Panzanella

So, you’ve made your focaccia.

Maybe – if you only have two people in the house – you find yourself with some leftover bread that didn’t get eaten with your soup or lunches.

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Maybe that bread is a few days old now.

And even though you both love the focaccia, you know that the rest of it won’t get eaten by itself.

This situation usually ends in two ways in this house: we keep the loaf, wrapped, until it’s too late and don’t remember to finish it, which ends with good bread being thrown away.

Or, we find other ways to use it up like bread pudding or something like this panzanella salad.

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I’d definitely heard of panzanella before, but I can’t say I had ever tried it (or made it myself).

Watching too much Food Network has ingrained certain Italian dishes into my brain, but they are only recognizable when said in Giada’s thick accent that she whips out mid sentence.

Rigotta, moozarellllllla, spegheetii.

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Maybe I did say panzanella in my best (but still really bad) Italian accent while making this dish. And maybe I still do it in my head every time I think about this salad.

Accent or not, I don’t know why I had never tried making panzanella before.

This version has almost everything I love about spring, mixed together with toasted bread cubes and a light lemony dressing.

Thanks to the Foodbuzz Taste Makers program and Eggland’s Best, I received a coupon for a free dozen eggs and a challenge: to create an original dish.

I wanted this salad to be our meal, and when you live with someone like Nick who needs a big filling meal, it has to have a good amount of protein. Eggs are easy and quick and they turned out to be a great addition to the dish.

Maybe panzanella itself isn’t original, but I’ve never run into a salad like this one before.

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If you’ve got some extra bread laying around (focaccia or not), toast it up and toss it with your favorite herbs, veggies and some eggs. You’ll be happy you did!

 

Spring Green Panzanella

Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients:

Salad:

  • 5 cups cubed bread
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 leek, cleaned and sliced
  • 1/2 cup green onions, sliced
  • 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
  • 1 cup broccoli, chopped
  • 4 hard boiled eggs, chopped

Dressing:

  • 1 tsp garlic
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1 Tbsp vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • 1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Toss bread cubes with olive oil and salt and spread into a single layer on a baking sheet.
  3. Toast in the oven 5-10 minutes until the bread is crispy and hot.
  4. While the bread is toasting, saute the leeks until softened in a pan over medium heat. Remove from pan.
  5. Add broccoli to the pan and cover. Let the broccoli cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until bright green. Remove from pan and add to the leeks.
  6. Toss the bread, leeks, broccoli, green onions, basil, parsley, and eggs together.
  7. In a small bowl, whisk the dressing together.
  8. Drizzle over salad and toss to combine while the bread and vegetables are still warm.

25 comments

  1. Great idea! This salad looks fabulous and perfect in this heat!

  2. I’ve never made panzanella but it looks like such a wonderful refreshing meal!

  3. How creative! (And pretty!)

    [Thanks for the reminder that I need to use my Eggland’s Best egg coupon…]

  4. Sounds delicious! A perfect summer meal.

  5. I was thinking of making a panzanella today too! Great minds cook alike!

    This looks absolutely delicious and definitely the perfect way to use up leftover bread!

  6. OK, OK, twist my arm. Panzanella for dinner it is. Thanks!!!!

  7. I love your panzanella! I’m a sucker for cornbread panzanellas, but foccacia would work amazingly as well. The hardboiled eggs are a great addition too! Yum!

  8. I love panzanella, and yours looks great! I’ll have to put it on my menu soon!

    Have a wonderful weekend!

  9. mmm this sounds mighty delish! :)

  10. I’ve never made this dish. Looks tasty!

  11. Brilliant! I love panzanella of any kind and this sounds awesome…I think I would make and top with fried egg to let the yolk drip all over the bread…but I’m weird ;)

  12. Looks delicious!

  13. ow! What a great way to use leftover bread. I <3 panzanella- in fact, I can't wait to make a traditional version once my tomatoes start coming in!! This version looks so fun! Love the hard boiled eggs for protein and all of the greens. Hope you have a great weekend

  14. I’ve heard of panzanella before but never made it. The thought of “wet” bread usually doesn’t seem appetizing to me. This is totally different though. Delicious! :-)

  15. Panzanella is one of my favorite types of salads. I love your twist of adding broccoli and eggs.

  16. I love the idea of this salad, it sounds delicious!!!! Hope you are having a nice holiday weekend! :)

  17. Pingback: Leek and Potato Soup

  18. panzanella is definitely something i haven’t had (or made) very often. there was this chocolate cherry bread from soemwhere in philly i used to adore and dream of a panzanella with strawberries and who knows what else… maybe i should work on that :)

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