Panzanella is a traditional Tuscan salad that typically uses stale bread. It appeared as a simple food for the poor, cheap and nutritious. Now Panzanella takes pride of place in the best Italian restaurants.
We will prepare Panzanella from dried Ciabatta, sweet tomatoes, baked sweet peppers and an excellent dressing with olive oil, tomato juice, vinegar and anchovies. I learned the basics of the salad recipe from the wonderful chef Ina Garten.
INGREDIENTS:
for 4 servings
Bell pepper - 1 piece
Cherry tomatoes - 300 gr
Ciabatta - 250 gr
Anchovies - 6 pcs.
Red onion - 1 pc.
Celery - 2-3 stalks
Capers - 1 tbsp
Basil - a handful
Wine vinegar - 1 tbsp
Olive oil - 4 tbsp
Garlic - 1 clove
First of all, let's reveal the taste of bell pepper. Place the whole pepper on a wire rack and place in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the skin is slightly charred.
Place the finished pepper in a plastic bag, tie it and let it sit for 15-20 minutes. Then we remove the seeds and skin from the pepper. Thanks to the “imprisonment” in cellophane, the pepper will be very easy to peel.
Coarsely chop the peeled pepper. 
Place anchovies and capers in a bowl. Cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters, lightly season with salt and sugar and place in a colander. Place a colander over the bowl so that the juice from the tomatoes drips onto the anchovies and capers.
The sweetish juice of the tomatoes will smooth out the salty taste of the anchovies. They, in turn, will give the juice additional flavor. We will later use the juice for dressing. 
Now let's prepare the bread. Initially, the Italians added stale bread to this salad so that it would not disappear. Indeed, freshly baked bread will not work here. But you need to take only tasty, high-quality bread. I love it when the pieces are well soaked in the salad, so I buy airy, porous Ciabatta and let it sit for a day or two to get stale.
Tear the bread into large pieces, place on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and season with freshly ground pepper. Place in a hot oven for 5-10 minutes until golden brown. Let cool. 
Chop the onion and celery stalks very thinly. For this, use a very sharp knife or a special grater for slicing vegetables. 
For the dressing, mix the juice from the tomato with vinegar and olive oil. Squeeze a clove of garlic into the dressing. I don't add salt or other spices since capers and anchovies are quite salty.
Place all the ingredients for the salad in a deep bowl. Add the dressing and mix well so that the sauce covers the vegetables and the Ciabatta pieces are soaked. 
Tuscan salad came to us from Italy. It is prepared using toasted croutons, capers and, of course, delicious tomatoes. To create a culinary masterpiece from sunny Tuscany, you should prepare aromatic salad tomatoes - fleshy and with a small amount of seeds. Croutons for Tuscan salad can be prepared not from ciabatta, but using white or whole grain bread. Proven recipes for tomato snacks are collected in our article.
Tuscan salad recipe
The prepared salad according to this recipe turns out to be very light and refreshing. It is especially popular in the summer. It can be prepared both for a festive event and for dinner - surprising your family or loved ones with this Italian dish. Thanks to chicken, some housewives serve salad as a main course.
The following products will be useful:
- baguette - 1 pc.;
- cherry tomatoes - 3 pcs.;
- breast - 250 g;
- olive oil 3 tbsp. l.;
- basil - sprig.
Practical part
Start preparing the Tuscan salad by preheating the oven. While it heats up to 400 °C, you can start preparing the crackers. To do this, cut white bread in half and coat it on both sides with a brush using olive oil. Then the loaf should be cut into small circles and placed on a baking sheet. Bake the bread in the oven for 8-10 minutes until a slightly noticeable crust appears.
Now you need to tackle the chicken breast. It should be cut into small pieces and fried in a frying pan. Wash the tomatoes and cut them into halves. Also chop the cheese so that it matches the size of the cherry tomatoes.
In a prepared salad bowl, you need to combine chicken, tomatoes, cheese and basil. This dish is usually seasoned with olive oil. After this, you need to add the prepared croutons to the salad, then salt it and pour balsamic glaze over it.
Tuscan bean salad
The salad with beans and herbs turns out very light and airy. Its preparation takes no more than 15 minutes, but the pleasure received during lunch exceeds all expectations. The dish pleases with its appearance and also fascinates with its original taste.
The following ingredients will be useful:
- red onion - 1 pc.;
- garlic - 2 cloves;
- goat cheese - 120 g;
- basil - a bunch;
- arugula - 120 g;
- beans - 300 g;
- lemon - 1 pc.;
- spices - to taste.
You need to start preparing an Italian Tuscan salad by preparing the available ingredients. To do this, open a can of canned beans, pour out the excess juice, and discard the contents in a colander. Peel and rinse the onion and garlic. Chop the garlic using a garlic miner, and cut the onion into thin half rings. Wash and dry the basil sprig and arugula. After this, chop the basil into thin strips and tear the arugula with your hands.
Then you should start preparing a delicious dressing. To do this, you need to mix cheese, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and pepper in a separate bowl. Beat everything with a blender. In a prepared salad bowl, mix the available ingredients, salt them and season with cheese mixture.
The cuisine of the Tuscan region of Italy is simple, but extremely rich in flavors. From simple ingredients - vegetables, cheese, meat, fish and pasta - Tuscan chefs prepare truly outstanding dishes, which is explained by the abundance of salad greens and bright dressings. Belaya Dacha from the “Tastes of the World” series will help you prepare breakfasts, lunches and dinners in Italian without much effort. Juicy Romano, nutty corn, frisse and radiccio with a slight bitterness add notes of fresh taste and spicy aroma to dishes.
Tuscany salad - delicious food in a few minutes
In the frantic pace of modern life, there is simply no time to stand at the stove for hours. and side dishes are a great help for housewives. In Belaya Dacha mixes, the greens are already washed in spring water and cut into large pieces - all that remains is to mix the contents of the pack with other products from the recipe.
You can use the Tuscany salad as a separate complete dish. Green leaves create a wonderful combination of aromas and tastes and contain a rich range of beneficial substances. To give the dish a touch of sunny Mediterranean, it is better to choose olive oil and tart, slightly sweet balsamic vinegar for dressing. This salad will give you a boost of energy in the morning, whet your appetite at lunch, and become a light and healthy meal for dinner.
Italian mix “Tuscany” – the benefits of lettuce leaves
Romaine is a traditional Italian head lettuce that was popular in ancient Rome. The dense leaves crunch pleasantly, have a tart, spicy taste and make dishes unusually juicy. Greens are rich in potassium, calcium and iron, vitamins E, A, PP and group B. Romano in the daily diet increases the level of hemoglobin in the blood, regulates water metabolism in the body, removes salts and cholesterol.
Frisse is a “curly” salad native to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Leaves with fringed edges are valued for their beauty and slightly bitter taste. This bitterness is created by the beneficial substances inulin and intibin, which actively participate in the digestion process, regulate metabolism and cleanse the body of toxins.
Radiccio is a head of lettuce of rich burgundy color with a spicy-bitter taste. When consumed regularly, the product provides powerful antioxidant protection for the body, slows down the aging process, has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system and improves immunity.
Korn is a salad with neat round leaves, a bright nutty taste and a spicy aroma. Greens contain a lot of ascorbic acid, iron and flavonoids, which increase the body's resistance to viruses, allergens and carcinogens. In addition, the ancient Romans noticed that corn increases male strength.
In addition to its rich vitamin and mineral composition, Tuscany has low calorie content. The mix will be an excellent basis for your diet - 100 g of product contains only 16 kcal. And you can lose weight with it without hunger, since fiber gives you a feeling of fullness for a long time and charges the body with vigor.
Delicious dishes with Tuscany mix
Juicy and crispy lettuce leaves improve the taste of almost any food, so many dishes can be prepared based on Tuscany. Try the recipe from Konstantin Ivlev - simple and tasty with the addition of mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes.
Place the Tuscany mix, halved tomatoes and fried porcini mushrooms on a plate, and drizzle the dish with a mixture of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Ideally, tomatoes need to be prepared in advance - put them in boiling water, cool, remove the skin, cut in half, add salt, pepper, thyme, garlic and olive oil, put in a windy place for a day. If you don’t have time, you don’t have to dry the tomatoes. Mushroom slices (you can use frozen ones) need to be fried in a mixture of olive and butter with the addition of garlic. This dish will take pride of place even on the holiday table.
In our selection you will find something for every occasion. Enjoy your meal!
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