Panzanella Recipe — The Tuscan Bread Salad That Transforms Stale Bread

Panzanella is the Italian genius for turning what is leftover into something better than what you started with. This ancient Tuscan bread salad is everything summer cooking should be — simple, seasonal, and deeply satisfying. And at its heart is one thing: great olive oil.

For this version, we're using Oilala Peranzanna, a mild, fruity southern Italian extra virgin from Puglia. The Peranzanna variety is native to Apulia — it brings a gentle sweetness and fresh green notes that marry beautifully with ripe tomatoes, without overpowering the delicate balance of the dish.

Why Olive Oil Makes or Breaks Panzanella

Panzanella has almost no cooking. That means every ingredient is fully exposed — and the olive oil carries the entire dressing. A flat, generic oil produces a flat salad. A fresh, harvest-dated EVOO like the Oilala Peranzanna (539 mg/kg polyphenols) lifts the whole dish, adding a subtle fruitiness and that characteristic Puglian softness that makes you want to eat it straight from the bowl.

This is also a recipe where the Tuscan and Puglian traditions beautifully converge: the bread, the technique, and the cultural DNA are Tuscan; the olive oil is the soul of Puglia. Two of Italy's greatest food regions on one plate.

Ingredients

• 300g stale sourdough or Tuscan pane sciocco, torn into rough pieces
• 600g very ripe tomatoes (San Marzano or heirloom), cut into chunks
• 1 cucumber, cut into chunks
• 1 small red onion, very thinly sliced
• Large handful fresh basil
• 5 tbsp Oilala Peranzanna EVOO — plus more to finish
• 2 tbsp good red wine vinegar
• Flaky sea salt and black pepper

Method

1. Spread torn bread on a baking tray and toast at 180°C (355°F) for 10 minutes until dry and lightly golden. You want crunch, not colour.
2. Combine tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion in a large bowl. Season generously with flaky salt and let sit for 5 minutes — this draws out the tomato juices that will soak into the bread.
3. Add toasted bread to the vegetables and toss to combine.
4. Dress with Oilala Peranzanna and red wine vinegar. Toss everything well, making sure the bread absorbs the dressing evenly.
5. Leave to rest for 20–30 minutes at room temperature — non-negotiable. The panzanella before and after resting are genuinely different dishes.
6. Add basil, toss gently, and finish with another drizzle of Peranzanna before serving.

Cook's Notes

The resting time matters. This is where the magic happens — the bread softens just enough to absorb the tomato juices and olive oil while still holding some texture. Don't rush it.

Use the ripest tomatoes you can find. In August and September, farmers' market tomatoes make this transcendent. Out of season, cherry tomatoes or San Marzano work better than supermarket beefsteaks.

Stale bread is not optional. Fresh bread goes soggy. Truly stale or lightly toasted bread absorbs the dressing without disintegrating — this is the whole point of the dish.

The Olive Oil Matters More Than You Think

Panzanella is a lesson in ingredient honesty. There's nowhere to hide. The Oilala Peranzanna we use here is cold-extracted from Peranzanna olives harvested in Puglia — the heel of Italy's boot, where olive groves have been producing oil for millennia. At 539 mg/kg polyphenols, it's a genuinely high-quality, health-forward EVOO with the mild, approachable character that makes it ideal for dressings and raw applications.

If you want to explore more of Italy's regional olive oil traditions, our full collection spans Puglia, Tuscany, Spain, Greece, and Chile — each estate-selected and harvest-dated.