Don’t wait for summer to indulge in panzanella. This spring version of the summer classic is bursting with the flavor of fresh herbs and fresh spring vegetables. It’s balanced with the salty flavor of feta cheese and garlicky, lemony dressing. The slight crunch of pieces of grilled bread rounds out this delicious spring panzanella salad.
I saw this Bon Appetit recipe and knew it was perfect for my leftover sourdough bread.
This salad would be great with broccoli florets, green beans, zucchini or any green vegetable you have on hand. Also, you can be creative with your choice of fresh herbs.
Tips
- Snow peas will work in place of the sugar snap peas. I didn’t have sugar snap or snow peas, so I substituted about 1 1/2 cups of baby frozen peas (rinsed and thawed). They were perfect.
- The original recipe calls for buttermilk. I used whole milk and it was delicious.
- I used one more slice of bread than was called for.
- I made the salad without feta one time (the salad shown in the photo) and it was delicious, making it a nice vegan alternative.
Ingredients
You’ll need the following ingredients to make spring panzanella.
Dressing
-
1 garlic clove
-
2 lemons
-
¼ cup whole milk
- 6 tablespoons olive oil (to taste)
- Fresh ground pepper (to taste)
Panzanella
- 1 cup (packed) of tender, fresh herbs (dill, mint, parsley, basil)
- 4 scallions, thinly sliced diagonally
- 1 English hothouse cucumber, halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces. Before cutting the cucumber, lightly bang it with a rolling pin to soften it slightly.
- 6 ounces of sugar snap peas, thinly sliced diagonally (about 2 cups)
- 1 bunch of asparagus, tough ends removed, sliced diagonally into 2” pieces (about 3 cups)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 1-inch-thick slices of round crusty bread (such as sourdough)
- 4 ounces feta cheese
- Kosher salt
Directions
Crush and finely chop the garlic, adding it into a large bowl. Add the zest of one lemon. Juice both lemons. Add the lemon juice, milk and olive oil and whisk the mixture. Season the dressing with salt and fresh pepper.
Add the scallions, peas and cucumber to the dressing. Toss them from time to time while doing the rest of the salad steps.
Add the olive oil to a skillet large enough to fit the slices of bread in a single layer. Turn on the heat to medium. Add the bread slices and cook them until the bottom sides are golden brown and crisp (about 5 minutes). Turn the bread over and lightly grill the other side (about 2 minutes). Move the bread to a plate and lightly salt both sides.
Add the asparagus to the same skillet, turning the heat up to medium-high. Cook it until it is bright green and slightly charred in spots (about 3 minutes). You want it tender, but crisp. Add the asparagus to the dressing.
Tear the bread into bite-size pieces (1-inch to 1 1/2-inches) and add it to the dressing.
Toss all of the ingredients in the dressing, giving the bread a little time to absorb a bit of the dressing. Add the fresh herbs. Break the feta into the salad. Toss everything together, taste the salad and add more salt and pepper if needed.
Related Posts
Here are some other salad recipes:
If you like sourdough, you might enjoy this post: My Sourdough Obsession.