Italian Panzanella Salad with Trapani Fine Sea Salt

Do you find yourself hankering for carbs but promised yourself a salad? Maybe you just feel too fatigued these days to even hold a sandwich? Then this end-of-summer panzanella salad should take centerstage on your dinner table tonight.

Recipe by Kourtney Paranteau

Makes enough for 2 main courses or 4 side salads

INGREDIENTS:

For the bread: 

• 1 Tbsp Fine Sea Salt
• ½ loaf day old bread, torn into large chunks 
• 3 Tbsp Olive Oil 

 For the dressing:

• 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar 
• 2 Tbsp olive oil 
• 1 Tbsp mayonnaise 
• 1  Tbsp stone ground mustard
• 1 Tsp black pepper 
• 2 Tsp pepperoncini pickling liquid 
• Juice of ½ a lemon 
• ½ cup shredded parmesan, plus extra for garnishing

For the salad assembly:

• 3 Tbsp pepperoncinis
• 2 Tbsp pickled red onions
• 10 slices of salami, cut into small ribbons 
• ¼ cup black olives
• ¼ cup cherry tomatoes, quartered 
• ½ head romaine lettuce, torn into bite sized sheets
• 1 head radicchio, torn into bite sized sheets

 PROCESS:

For the bread:

Preheat your oven to 350. While the oven heats, drench bread chunks with olive oil and salt. Toss until evenly coated. On a baking sheet, spread bread mixture into a single layer and bake for 15 minutes or until the edges of the bread bits begin to turn a golden brown.

For the dressing: 

In a small bowl whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, pepperoncini liquid, mustard, lemon juice, cheese, and black pepper and set aside. 

For the assembly:

Simply toss greens, salami, olives, pickled onions, tomatoes, pepperoncinis, and bread with your salad dressing in a large bowl, starting with ½ the dressing as not to over dress. For best results, mix and massage salad with your hands and garnish with remaining parmesan.