Tomato Feta Panzanella
A spin on your favorite panzanella with heirloom tomatoes, ciabatta croutons, tons of fresh briny feta and everyone's favorite herby basil vinaigrette.
Servings: 8 people
Ingredients
- 3-4 large heirloom tomatoes
- 1 cup heirloom cherry tomatoes
- 1-2 sheets feta cheese, drained from the brine
- Maldon Sea Salt + Freshly cracked black pepper
- Basil for garnish
For the Torn Croutons
- ¼ loaf ciabatta bread
- olive oil
For the Basil Vinaigrette
- 1 small shallot, roughly chopped
- 2 cups tightly packed basil
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
To Make the Croutons
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Tear the ciabatta bread into bite sized pieces. Transfer to a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Place the baking sheet into the oven and toast until the bread is crisp. Remove and use on the salad as needed.
To Make the Basil Vinaigrette
- Combine everything in a blender and blend until smooth. Adjust salt and pepper as needed.
To Assemble
- On a large platter, arrange the tomatoes, torn croutons and chunks of feta cheese. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with the vinaigrette. Top with basil
Notes
A high quality bakery bread really makes a difference here!
Tips & Tricks
This Tomato Feta Panzanella is loaded with the freshest summer tomatoes, so here is a hot tip on how to pick the best ones. If you walk by a stand of tomatoes and they SMELL like tomatoes, they are good. If you don't smell anything, keep on walking, they won't have as much flavor. You also want them to not be too soft - just FYI. On top of the tomatoes there's a salty briny addition of feta. We've talked about this before, but it's worth repeating... don't buy the pre-crumbled feta. Buy the stuff that comes in the brine and crumble it yourself. It will be so much more delicious and you'll never go back to the other stuff.Nutrition
Calories: 169kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 0.1mg | Sodium: 369mg | Potassium: 185mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 830IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 1mg