Guest Post by Raymund at Ang Sarap: Caprese Panzanella Recipe

Our guest today is Raymund at Ang Sarap (a Tagalog word for “It’s Delicious”)

Raymund and I started blogging at the same time—really, within days of each other—and we have followed each other ever since those early days. As I remember, it was his gorgeous photos that first caught my eye and his ability to post almost daily is amazing since cooking is his hobby, not his profession. (Makes me tired just thinking about it.) Raymund’s photography continues to impress and there is always something cultural or historical to learn from his recipes. It seems I’m not the only one who’s noticed, you can find his recipes featured in Philippine Digest Magazine (Japan), Stuff.co.nz, and HuffingtonPost.com as well.

Ang Sarap is the first place I look for Asian cuisine. In fact, his recipe inspired my Teriyaki Chicken post and his Mongolian Beef is a family favorite. He covers a wide range of flavors and regions, so stop-in and say hello, I know you’ll find great food there.

Caprese Panzanella Recipe

Hi everyone, let me take over this space just for this moment, I am very thankful Judy invited me to do a guest post here.  When she first asked me to do this I was not hesitant because this is one of the blogs I have followed for more than three years now.  I love Judy’s posts because many of them are healthy alternatives of my favourites, which is why today I will be sharing something well suited for Savoring Today, a summer Italian Salad called Caprese Panzanella.

Panzanella or panmolle like I mentioned earlier, is Italian summer salad known throughout the Italian peninsula, but it is most popular in Tuscany. This salad is commonly made out of stale bread, tomatoes, onions and basil dressed in balsamic vinaigrette. Stale bread is the most important part of this dish where is it’s moistened by pre-soaking it in water and pressed or infusing it with the salad dressing. Other vegetables can also be added in the salad’s basic ingredients such as cucumber, capsicums, olives, cheese, and meats.  Panzanella have different variations and one of is this Caprese Panzanella where fresh buffalo mozzarella or bocconcini is added, which makes this salad even more amazing.

You can have this salad just on its own as its quite filling due to the bread content, but if you want to add some protein to it a good grilled seafood is the best option, as it is light and tasty which matches well to the salads acidic taste.  I know it’s getting warmer there in the States so the timing of this recipe is spot on—hopefully you try them out and let us know what do you think on the comments below.

Print Recipe

Caprese Panzanella

Prep Time24 mins

Cook Time24 mins

Author: Judy Purcell

Ingredients

• 1/2 focaccia bread (, cut into 1-inch cubes)
• 200 g fresh mozzarella cheese (, roughly torn)
• handful of fresh basil leaves (, roughly torn)
• 12-15 cherry tomatoes (, cut in half)
• 1 small red onion (, thinly sliced)
• extra-virgin olive oil
• garlic salt
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• balsamic vinaigrette

Instructions

• Place cubed focaccia in a baking tray then lightly drizzle it with olive oil. Season with garlic salt and freshly ground black pepper then place in a 190C preheated oven and bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown in colour. Remove from oven and let it cool.
• Combine focaccia cubes, tomatoes, onion, mozzarella cheese and basil in a salad bowl then toss to combine.
• Drizzle balsamic vinaigrette on salad then serve.

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