Tomatoes, bread and basil are key to the traditional panzanella salad; this version adds high desert flavors with avocado, green chile and herbs that pair with basil.
Tomatoes, bread and basil are key to the traditional panzanella salad; this version adds high desert flavors with avocado, green chile and herbs that pair with basil.
The classic panzanella salad is a Tuscan staple celebrating two loves in the region — bread and tomatoes. But as most recipes do, it didn’t start the way it began, as a salad of onions and bread.
In the early 1900s, tomatoes grew in availability and popularity, and were introduced to the panzanella salad once it became clear they were not in fact poisonous as described in John Gerard’s book, The Herbal or General History of Plants, first published in 1597. Now, I doubt anyone would think of making panzanella without tomatoes, bread and basil, a trio of flavors and textures too good to abandon.
There have been many variations over the years, so I thought it would be fun to make a high desert version, adding avocado, green chile and herbs that play well with basil, like lavender and marjoram.
This salad naturally solves the problem of what to do with stale bread, although many traditional preparations use untoasted bread.
The magical quality to any kind of bread salad is that the bread acts as a sponge, soaking up the red wine vinegar and honey vinaigrette and making the most satisfying little pockets, bursting with flavor. You could use any kind of bread you like, from a baguette to ciabatta, even challah.
The most important thing to remember when making a salad like this is the higher quality of the ingredients you use, the better the salad will taste. I love the taste of ciabatta bread that’s been buttered, grilled, then rubbed with a garlic clove. But you can always swap out the butter for olive oil, or swap out using a grill for the broiler setting on your oven or even a toaster.
You can skip the mozzarella (many panzanella versions don’t include cheese), or you can also use shaved Parmesan, which is one of my favorite additions. This salad is easily a full meal on its own, but on the night I made this, since we had the grill on, I also grilled some brats and chicken, which were a wonderful addition.
Oh, and the best part? If you have any leftovers, even though the bread will have lost its toasty crunch, the salad tends to taste better the next day.
Marianne Sundquist/For The New Mexican
High desert panzanella salad
Makes: 6-8 servings; total time: 1 hour
Half a loaf of ciabatta bread, cut into 1-inch slices
¼ cup butter, softened to room temperature
1 large cloves of garlic
¼ cup red wine vinegar
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 good-sized shallot, sliced
1 large, ripe avocado, sliced
2 poblano chiles, fire-roasted, peeled, seeded and diced
2-4 heirloom tomatoes, cored and sliced into wedges
1 cup fresh mozzarella cheese, balls or sliced
2 cup fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon fresh lavender flowers
2 tablespoons fresh marjoram leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation: Heat grill to medium-high. Lightly butter both sides of the bread slices and grill on both sides until you get nice grill marks. Transfer the slices to a cutting board, and rub the garlic clove over the top of each piece of toasted bread. Dice bread into pieces and place in a large salad bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk together the red wine vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil and honey with a pinch of salt and pepper. Reserve.
To the large salad bowl, add the shallot, avocado, poblanos, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, basil, lavender and marjoram. Right before serving, pour the dressing over the salad and gently toss. Season as needed with salt and pepper.
Marianne Sundquist is a chef, writer and co-founder of Stokli, celebrating nourishing goods from the high desert (stokli.com). Find her on Instagram @marianne__sundquist and email her at [email protected].
The Santa Fe New Mexican observes its 175th anniversary with a series highlighting some of the major stories and figures that have appeared in the paper's pages through its history. The collection also includes archival photo galleries.
