Description
Italy’s famous bread salad is usually associated with Tuscany, but my husband’s father emigrated from Sicily, so I made up this version of bread salad using the flavors of Sicilian cuisine.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces country style white bread, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 3 tablespoons garlic flavored olive oil
- ½ teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 cups red or yellow teardrop tomatoes, halved
- ⅓ cup chopped green bell pepper
- ⅓ cup chopped red bell pepper
- 1 small red onion, cut into 3/4 inch slices
- 10 kalamata olives, pitted and halved
- ⅓ cup basil pesto
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 ounces crumbled goat cheese
- 1 head green or red leaf lettuce
- ¼ cup toasted pine nuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Toss the bread cubes with the olive oil to evenly coat. Sprinkle with salt
- and toss again. Spread the cubed bread evenly over a baking sheet
- and bake in the preheated oven until golden brown
- about 12 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
- Toss together the garbanzo beans
- tomatoes
- peppers
- onion
- and kalamata olives in a large bowl. In a separate bowl
- whisk together the pesto
- balsamic vinegar
- rosemary
- and pepper. Toss the tomatoes with the pesto mixture
- and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- To serve
- toss the toasted bread cubes and goat cheese with the tomato mixture. Line a serving platter with a few lettuce leaves. Shred the remaining lettuce
- and mound in the center of the platter. Spoon the bread mixture over the lettuce
- and sprinkle with toasted pine nuts.
Prep Time: 40 mins
Cook Time: 12 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 32 mins
Servings: 10