Make It Happen Panzanella Done Three Ways

Welcome to the second event of Make it Happen Blog Hop! Five bloggers, including myself , have formed an alliance to challenge ourselves in different capacities over the next 12 months. Our first challenge required us to do something with food. In the second challenge, we took on the world of books. Anything goes, a book review, reading a series, cooking from foreign texts, whatever challenged YOU to do something with books!

I have to say this one was a little more time-consuming, no, a lot more time-consuming for me.   To tell the truth choosing the book was pretty easy.  This book has made the rounds in our house. So I thought “ok, why not”. Since a couple of months ago I was lucky enough to visit the amazingly beautiful city of Florence with my sister, I thought this book, Inferno, by Dan Brown, which was based on The Divine Comedy by Dante, would be perfect.

Dante started The Divine Comedy, which is actually an Epic Poem, in 1308 and completed it in 1320, a year before his death.  The Poem describes Dante’s journey through Hell,  Purgatory and Paradise.

Dan Brown’s Book Inferno is about the  Harvard professor of symbology, Robert Langdon, who is drawn into a harrowing world centered around . . . Dante’s Inferno.

A small intro from the Dan Brown site – “Against this backdrop, Langdon battles a chilling adversary and grapples with an ingenious riddle that pulls him into a landscape of classic art, secret passageways, and futuristic science. Drawing from Dante’s dark epic poem, Langdon races to find answers and decide whom to trust . . . before the world is irrevocably altered”.   I won’t ruin it for you but you should read the book and if you ever get the chance, visit Florence.

So you ask what does Panzanella have to do with the book Inferno?  Well, since the book is set in Florence, I decided to make a Florentine dish.  There are quite a few famous Florentine foods such as Pane Sciapo (bread without salt), Pappa al Pomodoro (a type of tomato soup) and la Bistecca alla Fiorentina (Florentine steak) just to name a few.

I ended up doing this dish three ways, the traditional recipe,  made with day-old bread which is soaked in water for 20 minutes, crumbled up and tossed with red onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, olive oil, fresh basil and red wine vinegar.

I must say is was pretty good, but it was the moist bread that didn’t go down very well for any of us.  Deciding we had to fix that,  my husband had the bright idea of making Bruschetta, drizzle it with a little olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and then cut it into small pieces.  So out went the moist bread and instead it was replaced with some crunchy bruschetta.  Perfect!

Then of course was the third recipe which is the Roman way of making Panzanella.  August for me has become Puree-making-month.  Our family would get together to make our bottled tomatoes and of course there would be a little leftover puree, or a couple of very ripe tomatoes.  Someone would have some leftover bread, we would slice it up and spread with the puree, drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.  How the kids and adults would run to grab a slice!

Great book! Delicious panzanella dishes too. However you decide to serve it.   Enjoy!

5 from 1 vote

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Make It Happen Panzanella Done Three Ways

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

5 mins

Total Time

20 mins

 

Make It Happen Panzanella Done Three Ways, a delicious Italian recipe, grilled, traditional and Roman. Take your pick! Enjoy them all.

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 4 servings

Author: Rosemary

Ingredients

• TRADITIONAL PANZANELLA
• 2 slices or 3 of day old bread crusty Italian is the best
• 3-4 tomatoes or approximately 10 cherry tomatoes seeded and chopped
• 1 small cucumber chopped
• 1 small red onion thinly sliced
• 5 leaves fresh basil
• 1/2-1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil 30 grams
• pinch or 2 of salt
• MY PANZANELLA
• 2 slices or 3 of day old bread grilled just like bruschetta crusty Italian is the best
• 3-4 tomatoes or approximately 10 cherry tomatoes seeded and chopped
• 1 small cucumber chopped
• 1 small red onion thinly sliced
• 5 leaves fresh basil
• 1/2-1 tablespoon balsamic
• 2 tablespoons olive oil 30 grams
• pinch or 2 of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• ROMAN PANZANELLA
• 4 slices day old Italian crusty bread
• 5 very ripe tomatoes (plum)
• olive oil
• salt
• leaves fresh basil

Instructions

1. TRADITIONAL PANZANELLA
2. Remove crust from bread and let soak for 10 minutes in a bowl of water. Then squeeze out as much excess water as possible and break into pieces.
3. In a medium bowl mix together, chopped tomatoes, chopped cucumber, sliced onion, wine vinegar, olive oil and salt, then add bread pieces. Refrigerate for an hour. Toss with fresh basil leaves and an extra drizzle of olive oil if desired.
4. MY PANZANELLA

5. Grill bread drizzle lightly with olive oil and spinkle with a pinch of salt, cut into small pieces.

6. In a medium bowl mix together, chopped tomatoes, chopped cucumber, sliced onion, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and oregano. Refrigerate for an hour. Before serving toss with bruschetta pieces and fresh basil leaves and an extra drizzle of olive oil if desired.
7. ROMAN PANZANELLA
8. Wash and slice in half the tomatoes, on each slice of bread rub with tomato half, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt. Add cut up tomato and fresh chopped basil leaves. Enjoy!

This post is part of the “Make It Happen” blog series. Every month, myself and some other bloggers challenge ourselves to try something we have never done before and Make It Happen! We are excited to be on this journey together so please check out their posts below!