Panzanella salad was created in Tuscany as a way to use up stale bread. It is customary to soak the stale bread in water and a bit of vinegar for about 30 minutes until it becomes soft, but not soggy. The first time I ever had it was about 10 years ago, on the Amalfi coast of Italy. I discovered that the time-honoured Panzanella salad is not my jam. I really dislike the texture of the soaked bread. I prefer my stale bread with a bit of crunch.
This salad was inspired by a very similar one at thefeedfeed.com. Start with some really good bread. A rustic sourdough would be perfect, if you happen to know anyone baking sourdough these days! Tear, rather than cut it into chunks, so it has lots of nooks and crannies to soak up the delicious dressing from this salad. Toss with olive oil and salt and toast in oven until golden brown. You want the croutons to still have a bit of chew to them.
For the tomatoes, since it’s not really peak tomato season yet, I went with a mix of supermarket imported large heirloom tomatoes, grape tomatoes and some tomberries.
The dressing for this salad uses a mix of lemon juice, red wine vinegar and olive oil. I love tomatoes with basil, so I went one step further and made some basil infused olive oil. It takes about 5 minutes to make and it’s so delicious. Whizz some olive oil (1 cup) and basil (1/2 cup) in the blender. Pour into a saucepan and simmer for about a minute. Strain oil and let cool before using.
Fry the halloumi cheese at the last minute, so it will still be warm and crispy when you serve the salad.
