Heirloom Panzanella with Asiago

This Panzanella salad is a perfect combination of tomatoes, onion, and crusty toasted bread. Recipes often also call for olives, cucumber and peppers (also delish). I’m keeping it simple with this recipe and making the heirloom tomatoes the star. You can play with the ratio of ingredients, but don’t skimp on the step of salting the tomatoes which releases their liquid . This is what makes this salad so good. I’m calling for shaved Asiago (I use a peeler to shave it off the block) but feel free to grate or crumble it, there’s no wrong way. I could literally eat this every day…. and I just may.

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Serves 4-6

1 baguette or 3-4 cups Ciabatta or sourdough cut into cubes or bite sized pieces

4-5 medium to large sized heirloom tomatoes cut into bite sized cubes

1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon dry oregano

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 clove garlic finely grated

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup shaved Asiago

Fresh basil leaves

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place bread cubes on a sheet pan, toss with a touch of olive oil and let them bake for 12-15 minutes on the highest rack. Set aside

Place a colander in a large bowl. Add the chopped tomatoes to the colander and toss them with the kosher salt. Let them sit for about 15 minutes to release their juices into the bowl. Remove the colander and set the tomatoes aside.

To the tomato juice add the olive oil, oregano, garlic, vinagre and Dijon and whisk well. Add tomatoes, onions, half of the cheese and all of the toasted bread to the dressing. Mix well. Top with remaining Asiago cheese and fresh basil. Let salad sit for at least 15 minutes before serving so the bread can soak up all the goodness of the dressing.