This is one of my favourite recipes for Panzanella salad. A Peach Panzanella salad with feta, drizzled in a tangy dressing made from salting the tomatoes and releasing their juice. It's savoury and sweet and perfect for ripe peaches. This Peach salad is a summer staple of mine, and I love how searing peaches in a griddle pan gives them a slightly caramelised finish. I make a Panzanella recipe every time I have some leftover bread as it's a great way to use it up if it is getting slightly stale. Waste not, want not!
A traditional Panzanella salad doesn't have peaches or cheese in it, but I love peaches and cheese so....here we are. It is best to make this Peach Panzanella salad with ripe, fresh tomatoes that are in season, and whatever you do, do not sleep on making the dressing out of them as it is the best bit, no word of a lie. Once you make salad dressing using tomatoes, you'll never go back!
We release the tomato juice first through a sieve over a bowl and then whisk in the other ingredients, but the juice makes for the most incredible base. You'll need to leave them for a minimum of 30 minutes. I am currently using feta in everything after my trip to Cyprus a few weeks ago, but you could also make a mozzarella Panzanella or even a burrata Panzanella.
This peach Panzanella salad works best in the summer when the fruit is fresh and ripe, but I've often thought of trying to make an autumn Panzanella, watch this space.
Check out some of my other summer recipes here
Jump to RecipeIngredients
- Peaches
- Tomatoes
- Cucumber
- Ciabatta bread (or other leftover bread)
- Basil
- Shallot
- Olive Oil
- White wine vinegar
- Feta cheese
- Dijon mustard
See the recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Place the diced shallot into a bowl with the vinegar.
Slice the tomatoes in half and place them in a sieve over the bowl, and sprinkle over the salt. Leave them for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. The salt will draw out the water from the tomatoes, which will drip into the bowl below. Meanwhile, the shallots will be pickling slightly in the vinegar.
Heat the oven and cut the bread into small, bite-sized pieces. Lay the bread out on an oven tray and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, just long enough to dry it out completely and make it crunchy.
Cut the peaches into 4 segments.
Heat a griddle pan and wipe some olive oil over it to prevent the sugar in the peaches from sticking. When it is really hot, sear the peaches on all sides. Watch that they do not burn.
Peel and cut up the cucumber and crumble the feta.
Make the Panzanella dressing by whisking the olive oil and mustard into the tomato vinegar mixture and seasoning. You will not need to add much salt to this Panzanella Salad as the tomatoes have been salted already
Assemble the salad by adding all the ingredients to a large bowl, pouring over the dressing and garnishing with fresh basil leaves and crumbling over the feta.
Hint: Using a piece of kitchen towel to wipe oil onto a griddle pan or using an oil spray keeps it lubricated enough whilst not forming oil rivers in the grooves!
Substitutions
If you know how to make the recipe fit a certain diet, let the reader know here. Don't fake it - only provide guidance on topics you have actual experience with.
- Bread - Don't have any? You can use store bought croutons.
- Cheese - Try this panzanella salad recipe with burrata or mozarella.
- Vegan - Make this recipe completely vegan by ommiting the cheese.
Equipment
A good cast iron griddle pan is a brilliant addition to your kitchen cupboard. We have this Le Creuset one which will last forever and comes in pretty colours, too.
Storage
If you have leftover ingredients or are not consuming them straight away, it is best to keep the bread, dressing and other ingredients all separately until you are ready to eat to stop it from going too soggy. Good for 2-3 days in the fridge.
These ingredients don't stand up well to freezing.
Top tip
If you are enjoying this Peach Panzanella Salad at a picnic, place all the ingredients except the dressing into a plastic ziplock bag, with the dressing in a separate container. When ready to eat, simply pour the dressing into the plastic bag, reseal and jiggle it around. It's remarkably effective and saves bringing a huge salad bowl with you as you can serve straight from the bag!
Peach Panzanella Salad
Equipment
- mixing bowl
- Sieve
- Griddle pan
- Whisk
- Salad bowl
Ingredients
- 4 ripe peaches
- 20 cherry tomatoes
- 1 shallot, diced
- 1 cucumber
- 120 grams feta cheese
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 stick ciabatta bread
- 1 handful fresh basil
Instructions
- Place the diced shallot into a bowl with the vinegar.
- Slice the tomatoes in half and place them in a sieve over the bowl, and sprinkle over the salt. Leave them for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. The salt will draw out the water from the tomatoes, which will drip into the bowl below. Meanwhile, the shallots will be pickling slightly in the vinegar.
- Heat the oven and cut the bread into small, bite-sized pieces. Lay the bread out on an oven tray and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, just long enough to dry it out completely and make it crunchy.
- Cut each of the peaches into 4-5 segments.
- Heat a griddle pan and wipe some olive oil over it to prevent the sugar in the peaches from sticking. When it is really hot, sear the peaches on all sides. Watch that they do not burn.
- Peel and cut up the cucumber and crumble the feta into small pieces.
- Make the Panzanella dressing by whisking the olive oil and mustard into the tomato juice/shallot/vinegar mixture and season to taste. You will not need to add much salt to this Panzanella Salad as the tomatoes have been salted already.
- Assemble the Peach Panzanella Salad by adding all the ingredients to a large bowl, pouring over the dressing and garnishing with fresh basil leaves and crumbling over the feta.
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