We are a few days into our culinary vacation of Italy at Eataly in New York. It is a balmy 84º and rising on the coast of 31st street in NYC. That being said, it’s hot and muggy! The last thing I want to do is turn on the oven and roast something. I was thinking about the cool air blowing across a late night in Florence and relaxing with a beautiful Panzanella salad.

Panzanella is a great dish to have when it’s either too hot out to cook or you happen to have bread left over from the night before. Being this is our staycation Italian style, we have lots of italian bread on the ready. And keeping to the true Italian spirit, this recipe is just as relaxed. A couple of thick slices of day old bread (some prefer the Tuscan style bread because of it’s denseness) a couple of roma tomatoes, basil, a cucumber, a few green onions, olive oil, vinegar and salt and pepper. Mix this all up and let it set a bit so that the bread absorbs the liquids. And remember that the bread is the star of the show, so keep that in proportion.

There are so many ways to make this salad, it reminds me of an american chicken pot pie, you pretty much just use what you have on hand and it turns out beautifully.

We have many more things planned, but if you have any Italian suggestions, let us know! Until then I think we need to make another trip to Eataly.