Panzanella

Another recipe that has been sitting in my "must make" folder! Pretty much a cold pasta salad with bread instead of pasta. Interesting, right?

Panzanella (Serves 6)

4 cups 1-inch pieces day-old Italian or other firm bread
2 medium tomatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces (2 cups)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 medium green pepper, coarsely chopped (1 cup)
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

In a large bowl, mix bread, tomatoes, garlic, green pepper, basil, and parsley. In tightly covered container, shake olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper. Pour over bread mixture; toss until bread is evenly coated.

Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour until bread is softened and flavors are blended. (No more than 8 hours) Toss before serving.

Observations/Suggestions: I used half a loaf of short french bread. It was fairly soft, so I cut it and left it out most of the afternoon until the pieces were fairly dried out. There was way too much green pepper. I diced mine, so half a pepper is plenty. Unless you prefer a lot of green pepper, of course. I did not have red wine vinegar on hand, so I substituted apple cider vinegar (after some research) and it worked great. I let mine sit for about two hours and the flavors were very mellow.

Recommended? Yes. I made it as a main dish, but I felt it needed something with it. I will add black olives next time and will serve alongside grilled chicken.