Looking for a no-cook recipe you can toss together in less than 15 minutes? It’s hearty, rustic, vegetarian and hardly takes any effort at all. I first saw Lidia Bastianich make panzanella bread salad years ago in one of her visits to the Italian countryside. I don’t remember her recipe exactly but she basically tossed a few ingredients into a bowl and mashed them all up with her hands. So simple, so easy and so delicious I had to make this panzanella bread salad with a spicy twist!
Panzanella is a bread salad made with tomatoes and popular in the Tuscan region of Italy. The bread is soaked with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and basil and basically that’s it!
I added chopped cherry peppers that I pickled some time ago and it gave the panzanella a nice tangy, spicy flavor. It’s not over the top spicy but if you want it spicier you can add your own pickled hot peppers. Adding a little of the pickled juice will work as well but that’s entirely optional.
Take all the ingredients and mash them up for a bowl of zesty Tuscan flavors! You have to try this one, it’s sure to be a hit at your next event! Have you made panzanella before? If so, what are your favorite combinations? Please, chime in!
Spicy Panzanella
Ingredients
- 1 loaf crusty Italian bread cubed
- 1 lb ripe cherry tomatoes coarsely chopped
- 1/4 cup pickled cherry peppers chopped
- 4-5 large basil leaves torn apart
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Add bread to a large bowl and toss in tomatoes, cherry peppers, basil, drizzle in olive oil and vinegar. Add just a pinch of salt & pepper.
- Mix all ingredients with your hands and squish everything together so all is well mixed.
- Serve in a large bowl and have as a side or main course.
