Fraiche Food Tomato Fennel Panzanella Salad

Tomato Fennel Panzanella

Serves

4-6

Photo, Rachelle Beatty.

Brimming with flavour, our favourite version of this classic Italian bread salad will have you coming back for more.

Ingredients

1 baguette , halved lengthwise
Extra-virgin olive oil , for brushing the baguette
2 garlic cloves , halved
Sea salt
6 cups roughly chopped cherry tomatoes
1 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup shaved fennel
Handful fresh licorice basil , (or regular basil), for garnish

Dressing

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp white-wine vinegar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves , crushed
salt

Instructions

Make the salad. Preheat a grill to medium. Brush both sides of the baguette halves generously with olive oil and grill on both sides until lightly brown with grill marks. (Alternatively, toast under the broiler.) Transfer to a large platter and, once cool to the touch, roughly rub the cut side of the bread with the garlic halves and sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Tear the bread into large bite-sized pieces.
In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, chopped basil, fennel and torn bread and toss to combine.
Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, white-wine vinegar, mustard, garlic and salt to taste until emulsified. Pour the dressing over the salad and season with salt. Set aside at room temperature for 1 to 2 hr before serving, if possible, to allow the bread to absorb some of the dressing and the tomato juices. (But we have eaten it on the spot with no complaints!) Garnish with the licorice basil before serving.

Excerpted from Fraiche Food, Full Hearts: A Collection of Recipes for Every Day and Casual Celebrations by Jillian Harris and Tori Wesszer. Copyright © 2019 by Jillian Harris and Tori Wesszer. Photography copyright © 2019 by Janis Nicolay. Published by Penguin Canada, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.