You will love this bountiful tomato peach panzanella salad, friends. A delicious celebration of summer vegetables paired with crusty bread and a flavorful vinaigrette, what’s not to love?
For variation, add some tomato jam or even bacon peach jam to the vinaigrette.
And if you’re a fan of the tomato-peach combination, give my peach tomato jam recipe a try.
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There is almost no salad so summery as a panzanella.
Tuscany’s famed salad featuring leftover bread and juicy tomatoes in a bright and flavorful, garlicky vinaigrette. I love panzanella so much I even made a dessert version of peach panzanella.
But today, I want you to get to know summer tomato peach panzanella.
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Peaches in a Savory Salad?
Wait? Peaches in a savory salad? It’s really not so strange.
Fruit has been used in savory meat preparations for hundreds if not thousands of years.
Peach chutney sings on pork or poultry. Or try my bacon peach jam instead.
Fruity Moroccan tagines rely on a balance of sweet and savory.
Mango and tomatoes play nicely together in salsa, so why not let peach’s savory side shine in this salad? No reason not to, right?
Plus the savory peach juices mingle with all the other juices to make an incredibly flavorful base for your vinaigrette.
An Easy Yet Impressive Salad
The hardest thing about making this salad is waiting for the vinaigrette to soak into the bread.
Worry not, the salad isn’t soggy. That would be gross. Drying the bread in the oven for 20 minutes or so gives it enough backbone to stand up, even after a few hours.
I wouldn’t try and hold this salad overnight, though, so make this for your Labor Day picnic and share it with a crowd. Toss in all your juicy late summer vegetables and make it your own.
This salad is also vegan if you leave off the fresh mozzarella. If you will be dining with vegans, reserve a portion without cheese so everyone can enjoy the fresh burst of late summer flavors.
How to Make Tomato Peach Panzanella
Making this summer tomato peach panzanella couldn’t be easier. It’s really more of a method and not a true recipe, so use what you have.
Here’s how to make your own.
- Choose lean bread (not enriched with eggs, butter, etc) with a nice open crumb. I used ciabatta, but you can use focaccia or pretty much whatever bread you like.
- Cut or pull it into bite-sized pieces and spread it on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, tossing once or twice. No need for it to toast–the bread should be dry but not golden.
- Cut up your summer vegetables (my array was tomatoes, peaches, Vidalia onion, cucumber, yellow bell pepper, and sweet corn which I cooked for a few minutes, just enough to take away that raw corn starch flavor). Place them in a colander over a large bowl and salt them well. I added some Fruit Fresh as well to keep the peaches from discoloring while they sat there.
- Once you get a nice amount of vegetable juices in the bowl, use that as the base for your vinaigrette. Just add a touch of vinegar, some garlic and pepper, and then whisk in as much olive oil as you like. You could also use a more neutral oil like (affiliate link) grapeseed oil so the flavors of the vegetables really shine through.
- Toss the dried bread, vegetables, and vinaigrette together and let sit for at least thirty minutes to an hour before serving at room temperature.
To even shorten the directions:
- Dry cubed bread in oven.
- Salt vegetables and drain over a bowl.
- Make vinaigrette with the juices in the bowl.
- Stir everything together.
- Let sit so vinaigrette soaks into the bread.
Questions?
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Summer Tomato Peach Panzanella
Ingredients
- 2-3 pounds mixed ripe tomatoes and peaches
- 2 ears sweet corn on the cob boiled for 5 minutes then cut from the cob
- 1 small to medium cucumber peeled, quartered and sliced
- ½ cup sliced Vidalia onion (red onion would work well here, too)
- 1 small bell pepper washed, seeded and diced
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon Fruit Fresh to keep peaches from browning
- ¾ pound Italian bread ciabatta, focaccia, etc
- 2-3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1-2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
- 10-12 large basil leaves torn or chopped with a very sharp knife
- 4-6 oz fresh mozzarella torn into bite-sized pieces
Instructions
- Blanch the tomatoes and peaches for about 1 minute to loosen the skins. Peel and cut them into bite-sized pieces.
- Place the tomatoes and peaches in a colander set over a bowl large enough to hold all the ingredients, including the bread. Add corn, cucumber, onion, and bell pepper to the colander as well.
- Sprinkle the fruit and vegetables with salt and Fruit Fresh and toss well. Allow to drain about 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350. Cut crust off the bread (or leave it on) and cut or pull into bite-sized pieces. Spread the bread out on a baking sheet and bake about 20 minutes, tossing once or twice. Let cool.
- By now, you should have a nice amount of juices collected in your bowl. To that, add the vinegar, garlic, mustard, and black pepper. Whisk well to combine.
- While whisking madly, stream in the olive or avocado oil. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. You can also add a bit more vinegar if you want it sharper or more oil if you like your vinaigrettes more mellow.
- Add the reserved vegetables, cooled bread and almost all the herbs to the bowl of vinaigrette, and fold together to evenly moisten the bread. Allow to sit for at least half an hour or up to an hour, folding a couple of times so the bread can evenly soak up the dressing.
- Add the torn mozzarella and the reserved basil to the top of the salad before serving. You can toss everything together once everyone has seen your gorgeous salad.
Did You Make Any Changes?
Nutrition
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And there you have it friends. Summer Tomato Peach Panzanella. It’s an end-of-summer symphony of flavors that I think you are really going to love. Happy almost-fall, friends.
Remember this summer salad. It’s a great one for using up all sorts of ripe, juicy vegetables. Enjoy it!
Thank you so much for spending some time with me today. Take care, and have a lovely day.
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I love panzanella. Though I’m a recent convert to this salad, it brings together a bunch of my favorite foods – fruits, veggies, bread and herbs. As for peaches and tomatoes going together, I’m totally open to that combination. After making watermelon tomato gazpacho earlier this week, I’m very much in the “tomatoes are a fruit so they go with other fruit” mode. Great Progressive Eats contribution!
Yes–peaches and tomatoes like each other very much! I love this salad because you can add whatever juicy, ripe veggies (and some fruits) you have. The vinaigrette comes together almost without having to think about it. So easy, and great for a crowd!
Wow! What an incredible combination of flavors, it is the quintessential summer salad. I can’t wait to make it! Every single bite will be pure delight!!
I just kept finding more things and thinking “Hey, that would be good in a panzanella!” lol And I know you will have the perfect gluten free bread to make this with, Jane! Thank you for hosting us this month!
Panzanella has to be my favorite salad in the summer. I have a thing about tomatoes. If they’re not off the vine, they’re simply not worth eating at all. That means a LOT of salads in the summer and a famine period for months waiting for summer again!
I’ve used tomatoes and peaches in salad together before but not in a panzanella…obviously that must change; Colorado peaches are at their peak and I have a big hoard of both peaches and tomatoes right now. My grocery list now includes Ciabatta…not my favorite bread typically for it’s super crustiness but perfect for this salad. Yum really is the word!
I actually thought of you and Anshie and your gorgeous CO peaches–this would be a perfect way to showcase them without going the dessert route! =)
Love this Jenni! And, great minds think alike. We have been enjoying a similar (very) salad all summer. It is so refreshing and screams summer; doesn’t it!
It is the summeriest–and now that I have it in rotation, I can switch it up depending on what’s at the market!
All things summer on a plate!! Well done , Jenni! Now pass me the fork please 😀
Thank you, ma’am! 🙂 And I will pass you a fork if you hand me a samosa. Deal? =)
Oh, boy, Jenni, this is one fabulous salad!!! The epitome of a summer salad. Well done, my friend!
Thank you, Liz! And for dessert, I will have some of your delicious chocolate sheet cake!