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Panzanella Salad (Crouton Salad)

5 from 1 vote
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Course: Main Course, Salad
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 8 people
Author: Lorena Salinas from Cravings Journal

Ingredients

For the croutons

  • 2 ciabatta loafs the small ones, not the baguette-like in length, one of those
  • Plenty olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

For the onion

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • ½ red onion sliced, or 1 shallot
  • Salt and pepper

For the dressing

  • 1 garlic clove minced, grated o ground
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
  • 6 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

For the salad

  • 700 g cherry tomatoes halved
  • 150 g drained and pitted green olives sliced
  • 1 cup basil leaves chopped large

Instructions

For the croutons

  • Cut the bread in 3cm/1in cubes.
  • Place the bread cubes on a baking tray and add a generous of olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix.
  • Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C/350°F for 10-15min or until nicely golden.

For the onion

  • [If you prefer, you can use raw onion] Preheat a pan over high heat, let it get very hot. Add the oil and onion and sautée it to make it nice and golden, it should take a couple of minutes. Add salt and pepper. If you prefer to cook the garlic to soften its flavour as well, you can add it to the onion once it's ready and sautée it for a few seconds.
  • Reserve the onion and let it cool down completely before adding to the salad.

For the dressing

  • In a small bowl add the garlic (omit if you sautéed it with the onion), mustard, salt and pepper.
  • Add the vinegar a whisk together.
  • Add the oil slowly, whisking the whole time as you pour. Keep whisking until everything comes together.

For the salad

  • In a large bowl or salad bowl add the croutons, tomatoes, olives and basil.
  • Add the dressing and mix. Let it rest for 15 minutos. The idea is that the brear is slightly soft on the outside and still crispy at the centre. More time than this and the bread will soak completely, and if it's less than this, you'll break a tooth, lol!
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