While browsing through all the wonderful websites dedicated to food magazines which refuse to show up in India (YET), I came across one of my all time favourite salads. I realize a trend, I admit. My favourite salads lean towards something with bread, maybe since I never felt that a meal can consist only of salad. Salad and Desert maybe? Yep. Bingo! So for anyone who lives in Mumbai, I suggest you go to the nearest Indigo Deli and dig into their panzanella salad, and end with a selection of their freshly baked cookies. Now that’s a satisfying meal! Here is my take on the simple panzanella, with a few convenient add ins to make it a wholesome meal.
Clean and cut each tomato into half, then cut out 6 wedges of each half. Chop half of a tiny red onion and throw in with the tomato and leave to chill. Preheat an oven to 200*c and chop some day-old ciabatta bread into bite sized chunks and place on baking tray in the oven will the golden and turn crisp to touch. Clean some basil and mix together with the tomatoes and the onion. The recipe calls for arugula, and since I didn’t have any, I added some crunchy iceberg lettuce instead. Prepare the dressing by combining the olive oil, red wine vinegar and the garlic. Season generously. Drizzle the dressing over the salad. I added a ball of mozzarella, cut into tomato sized chunks since that’s how its served at the Deli and well, I love it. To finish, grate over a quarter cup of parmesan. Allow the salad to blend together by letting it sit for a few minutes before you can’t hold back nay longer!
Panzanella Salad Ingredients: (Adapted from Saveur)
1. 4 tomatoes, cut into wedges of 12 each tomato
2. ½ red onion, finely sliced
3. 10-12 fresh basil leaves, torn
4. 1/3 cup olive oil
5. 1 ½ tbs red wine vinegar
6. 1 large clove garlic, minced
7. Sea salt and fresh pepper, to taste
8. ¼ cup parmesan
9. 1 ball mozzarella
10. 1/6 ciabatta loaf or ½ small (individual sized) ciabatta loaf
