Panzanella with a twist

The traditional Tuscan Panzanella is a favorite, especially for casual barbecue dinners or poolside lunches when you just toss some grilled shrimp in and make it a one plate meal.  To enhance this traditional dish,  I like to crumble in feta cheese, marinate the red onions in red wine vinegar, and make Gigantic Mustard Parmasean Breadcrumbs that add a lot of flavor.

I make this all the time but not when tomatoes are at their peek season.  Then I always like to serve 🍅 Tomato & Burrata Salad 🐄 which puts the wildly fresh tomatoes front and center.   But when you cannot get them, this is a great great salad.

Ingredients 

• Our amazing Gigantic Mustard Parmasean Breadcrumbs
• 2 pints each of red and yellow cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
• 6 ounces of top quality feta, crumbled
• 1 large red onion that have been marinated in red wine vinegar for at least an hour, reserve 4 tablespoons for the dressing
• 2 large red bell peppers, seeded,  cut into 1 square inch chunks
• 2 hothouse cucumbers, slice down the middle, seeds spooned out and cut in 1/4 in moons
• 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
• 2-3 tablespoon of capers, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Making It

• In the blender put the 3 of the 4 tablespoons of the vinegar (and after you taste the blended dressing you can add more if you would like), garlic, olive oil, mustard, salt and pepper, blend until fully combined
• In  a large mixing bowl toss in the tomatoes, feta, onions, red bell peppers, cucumbers, basil, dill, capers and add dressing, toss and let sit for 15 minutes and serve