This Peach and Tomato Panzanella celebrates all the flavors of late summer. Cubed bread is tossed with juicy peaches, tomatoes, creamy avocado, mozzarella, fresh basil and a tangy olive oil dressing.
This Peach and Tomato Panzanella is a favorite of mine for a number of reasons but one being that it’s a salad that secretly has a lot of bread. (#Ilovecarbs) Even though it’s bread based, fresh ingredients toss in and keep it light and summery. It’s filling enough to eat as a main course or to serve as a side. The juices of the ingredients soak into the bread and create the best flavor.
I served my panzanella with a zucchini involtini. If serving as a side it would go great with burgers as a picnic salad, a light pasta or grilled chicken. You can really get creative!
What is Panzanella?
Panzanella is a Tuscan bread salad. It consists of a cubed crusty bread such as a baguette or sourdough. Then bread is combined with an array of summer fruits and vegetables and tossed in an olive oil based dressing. Fresh basil finishes off the salad.
I chose to use peaches and tomatoes as the star ingredients in this recipe but you can add and subtract whatever you have lying around the house. Think onions, chickpeas, bell peppers, feta cheese etc. You can really make it your own and style it how you want!
Making the Peach and Tomato Panzanella
- Make the dressing. Combine olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and dijon mustard.
- Toss the ingredients. Add the bread, peaches, avocado, mozzarella pearls, and basil to a large bowl and toss with the dressing. Add a couple rounds of salt and pepper and toss again. Let sit for 10 minutes.
- Drizzle with balsamic. Add a big squeeze of lemon, the remaining basil and drizzle with balsamic. Serve.
Late Summer Peach and Tomato Panzanella
Ingredients
Panzanella
- 5 cups cubed bread, I used a baguette
- 3 peaches, pitted and sliced
- 2 medium vine tomatoes, wedged
- 1 avocado, cubed
- 1 cup fresh mozzarella pearls
- 1 cup fresh basil
Dressing
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- juice from ½ lemon
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- balsamic reduction, for drizzling (optional)
- ½ lemon, to taste
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
Making the Panzanella
- Combine the olive oil, minced garlic, lemon juice, and Dijon mustard into a small bowl. Set aside.
- Add the cubed bread, peaches, tomatoes, avocado, mozzarella pearls and 3/4 of the basil leaves to a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss together. Add some salt and pepper to taste and toss again. Let the salad set for 10 minutes so the bread soaks in the juices.
- Top with the remaining basil, a big squeeze of lemon and drizzle with the balsamic reduction. Serve and enjoy!
Looking for more summer harvest recipes? Check out my Creamy Lemon Basil Cucumbers and Summer Roasted Vegetable Lasagna