Burrata Panzanella

Course: Salad

Cuisine: Italian

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 10

Resting time: 45

Servings:

Calories: 326kcal

For a quick summer meal try burrata panzanella, where the classic Tuscan bread salad, meets ripe tomatoes and creamy burrata cheese.

Chop the larger tomatoes into chunks, the small cherry tomatoes in half, and finely slice the onion. Then place the vegetables in a large bowl and season well with sea salt. Cover and set aside for 5 minutes.
Cut the stale bread into small chunks, place them in a bowl and mix with 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil.
Arrange the bread chunks on a baking tray covered with parchment paper. Place the tray in a preheated oven to 180°C/360°F with the grill function on, and bake for 10 minutes, or until crispy and golden. Check the bread frequently, to make sure it doesn't brown too much. Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool.
Add the cucumber and bread chunks into the bowl with the tomatoes and onion. Tear the basil leaves by hand and add them to the salad.
Season with the remaining extra-virgin olive oil, white vinegar, sea salt and black pepper to taste, and mix to combine all the ingredients.
Right before serving the panzanella salad, top with chunks of burrata cheese and serve.

For a more traditional panzanella, let the bread chunks soften in a bowl with olive oil, a little drop of white vinegar, and water, then squeeze the bread chunks and add them to the salad.

If you're using fresh bread, you can simply cut it into chunks, or grill them with a little olive oil before adding them to the salad.

You can serve the burrata panzanella straight away, but it tastes even better after a few hours. I like to add the burrata cheese right before serving.

Panzanella is best served at room temperature. Store in the fridge until ready to serve, then let it sit on the kitchen counter for 10 minutes before serving.