Sourdough Panzanella with Cured Vegetables

By Dunjab

Ingredients

• For the salad:
• 1 loaf sourdough bread, trimmed into 4 pieces, roughly 5 inches long and
• 2 inches tall
• 1 cup carrot, peeled and shaved lengthwise
• 1 cup fennel, sliced lengthwise in thin strands
• 1 cup celery, peeled and shaved lengthwise
• 2 cups tomato vinaigrette (recipe follows)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, more or less to taste
• Small handful of fennel fronds, micro herbs or baby greens, for garnish
• For the tomato vinaigrette:
• 2 cups olive oil
• 4 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2/3 cup Sherry vinegar
• 1 teaspoon thyme leaves, stripped from stems
• 2 tablespoons shallot, finely minced
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Details

Servings 4
Preparation time 10mins
Cooking time 20mins

Preparation

Step 1

To make the salad:
Heat oven to 200°F. Slice each brick of bread into approximately 8 equally sized pieces. Place sliced bread on a sheet pan and dry over low heat for 3 hours.

Combine shaved celery, fennel and carrots in a bowl with salt and sugar. Toss gently until the mixture is coated evenly. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Drain off any liquid that collects in the bottom of the bowl.

To make the vinaigrette:
Using a whisk, combine all ingredients except oil in a small bowl. While whisking, slowly drizzle in oil until mixture emulsifies and thickens.

To finish, place 4 equal portions of cured vegetables on each serving plate, arranging them in a loose bundle. Assemble bread cubes into 4 equal stacks, standing bread cubes on end (like dominoes). Handling only one stack of bread cubes at a time, gently place each stack of bread cubes in the bowl of vinaigrette, allowing tomato vinaigrette to infuse only the bottom surface of the bread cubes. Layer each stack of bread cubes on serving plates along side the cured vegetables. Garnish with fennel fronds, micro herbs or baby greens if desired. Serves 4.