Pastrami & Rye Panzanella: Delicious Twist on an Old Classic

 

 

I have always loved Salad.  There is nothing so refreshing as a nice, chilled salad on a hot summer's day!  A lot of people will say that they don't like salad, or that salad is boring and that they can't be asked. They want more exciting food. My answer to that is, then you have not had the right salad!

Admittedly I have been served some pretty insipid salads through the years. Lettuce and vegetables that are well past their prime, thrown together as if an afterthought. Why!!! Salads don't have to be boring creatures. They can be wonderful opportunities to gather together fresh ingredients in interesting, innovative, and delicious ways!   If people put as much care into putting together a salad as they did any other dish, there would be no such thing as a lackluster salad!

This recipe for a Pastrami and Rye Panzella is case in point. A delicious riff on the traditional Italian Panzanella Salad, it puts together interesting and flavorful ingredients with a melt-in-the mouth North American twist!

 

Crisp cubes of golden-brown toasty rye bread, smoky, peppery and salty pastrami, crisp cucumber and celery, sweet cherry tomatoes, sharp red onions, along with fresh basil and parsley leaves with a mild garlic red wine vinaigrette.  (The sweet juices of the tomatoes work along with the vinaigrette to dress the salad.)

 Unusual yes, but it totally works!  

I cannot lay claim to it. I adapted the recipe from a book I have written by Mindy Fox, entitled, Salads: Beyond the Bowl. It is filled with delicious and innovative salads that are anything but boring. Every recipe I have tried in this book has been amazing. I highly recommend!

I adapted the recipe to make a small batch for just two people.  I also added some caraway seed because I thought it would work and it did beautifully.  Feel free to double the recipe if you are feeding more people and to leave out the caraway seed if you are not a fan!

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE PASTRAMI & RYE PANANELLA SALAD

It looks like a long list of ingredients, but they are all very simple ingredients.  Use the best and freshest available of each.

• 1/4 of a large red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups (about 2 slices) light rye bread, cubed
• 1 small clove of garlic, peeled
• fine sea salt
• 2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 TBS red wine or sherry vinegar
• 1/4 tsp caraway seed, lightly toasted
• 1/2-pound (227g) cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
• 1/2 English cucumber
• 1 stalk celery, trimmed, destringed and thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup (large handful) fresh basil leaves, larger leaves torn
• 1/8 pound (175g) sliced Pastrami, coarsely chopped
• 2 TBS flat leaf parsley leaves

 

I cut my onion in half and then in half again, which gave me a quarter of an onion, which was the right size for this recipe. (Wrap and refrigerate the remainder.)  I cut it crosswise into thin slices.

I did trim the crusts from the rye bread and used middle slices with a much larger area. It was a good quality light rye. Simply trim off the crusts and cut into 1-inch cubes.

If you don't have a small clove of garlic, use half of a larger clove. You don't really want much more than that as this is not meant to be a really garlicky salad.

I used Sherry vinegar. It is a type of red wine vinegar made using Sherry and has a lovely flavor.

 

You can leave the caraway seed out if you want or don't like it. I did find it added a nice touch. To toast it add it to a hot dry skillet and toast it over medium high heat for about 2 minutes. Don't let it burn.

I used a good cherry tomato.  Hiiros Cherry tomatoes that I got at my local grocery store. They were a bit pricier than the others, but they had a deep red color and a lovely, sweet flavor. They were perfect for this salad. They were originally bred for the Japanese market.

No need to peel the cucumber. English cucumbers have an edible peel which is not overly hard. Running a fork down the outside of cucumbers helps to get rid of any bitterness and also gives them a pretty appearance.

To destring your celery, grasp the strings at one end of the stalk between your index finger and the blade of a knife. Gently pull down towards the other end. The strings should come out very easily.  This makes for celery that is a lot more palatable. Celery strings can get caught in between your teeth, which is why a lot of people don't like it.

I used a good local Pastrami.  It was shaved.  I just coarsely chopped it and it worked fine.

 

HOW TO MAKE PASTRAMI & RYE PANZANELLA

• To make the croutons, preheat the oven to 450*F/270*C. Lay the bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast in the preheated oven for 6 to 8 minutes until light golden brown. Remove and allow to cool.
• Put the sliced onion into a bowl and cover with 1 cup (240ml) of cold water. Give the onion a good swish in the water and rub a bit with your fingertips. Drin and repeat this process several times, letting the onions soak and changing the water at 10-minute intervals. (This helps to mellow out any sharpness.)
• Finely chop the garlic. Sprinkle with the salt and then grind the salt into the garlic with the flat blade of your knife until it forms a paste.

 

• Scrape the garlic paste into a small bowl and add the caraway seed, oil and vinegar, whisking everything together.
• Prepare your vegetables. Cut your cherry tomatoes in half. Trim, destring and slice the celery. Run a fork down the sides of your cucumber, cut in half lengthwise and then cut into half-moons. Wash and pat dry your herbs.
• Combine the cooled bread, the tomatoes and a pinch of sea salt in a large bowl. Toss to combine, gently squeezing the tomatoes a bit to release some of their juices.
• Drain the onions and pat them dry. Toss them into the bowl of bread and tomatoes with the cucumbers, chopped pastrami, herbs and celery.
• Whisk the dressing together again and add to the salad, tossing everything gently to combine.
• Divide between two salad bowls and serve immediately. (I like to use shallow pasta bowls.)

 

HOW TO MAKE A BETTER SALAD

Hints & Tips to make your Salads

Shine

1. Source your ingredients with care.  Buy the best and the freshest ingredients that you can find.
2. Prep your salad greens with care. Handle them gently and wash thoroughly to remove any grit or dirt.  A salad spinner is ideal for drying out your salad leaves. To wash, place the leaves in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Give them a good swish.  Leave to stand, undisturbed, for 5 to 10 minutes. (Any grit or sand should sink to the bottom.) Remove from the bowl and spin or gently pat dry with paper towels.
3. Use the best quality salt and pepper. I like to use flaked or fine sea salt. (Maldon is a favorite) and I like to grind or crush my own pepper from fresh peppercorns.
4. Unless otherwise specified, Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the best oil to use for leafy salads. Store in a dark cool place and use well within the "use by" date. Rancid oil is very distasteful.
5. Use good quality vinegars.  I find plain old white vinegar or malt vinegar too harsh, and it can really take over the flavor of a salad dressing. I like to use white or red wine vinegars, or apple cider vinegar and I keep a good quality variety of each in my larder. It needn't be the best, but certainly not the cheapest either.
6. Whenever possible I like to make my own salad dressings from scratch. If you follow a 3:1 ratio of oil to acid (vinegar, lemon juice, etc.) this is not hard to do. Any other seasonings, herbs, etc. can be added from there.
7. DON'T over-dress your salad. It should not be swimming in the dressing. A dressing is meant to enhance the natural flavors of your salad, not drown them.
8. Mix gently and lightly in a large wide bowl. This ensures enough space for any salad greens to get dressed without bruising.

  

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Yield: 2 Servings

Author: Marie Rayner

Pastrami & Rye Panzanella

A very tasty salad with crisp rye bread croutons, salty beef Pastrami and plenty of crisp fresh vegetables and herbs. A simple garlic vinaigrette is used to tie everything together deliciously.

Ingredients

• 1/4 of a large red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups (about 2 slices) light rye bread, cubed
• 1 small clove of garlic, peeled
• fine sea salt
• 2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 TBS red wine or sherry vinegar
• 1/4 tsp caraway seed, lightly toasted
• 1/2-pound (227g) cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
• 1/2 English cucumber
• 1 stalk celery, trimmed, destringed and thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup (large handful) fresh basil leaves, larger leaves torn
• 1/8 pound (175g) sliced Pastrami, coarsely chopped
• 2 TBS flat leaf parsley leaves

Instructions

1. To make the croutons, preheat the oven to 450*F/270*C. Lay the bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast in the preheated oven for 6 to 8 minutes until light golden brown. Remove and allow to cool.
2. Put the sliced onion into a bowl and cover with 1 cup (240ml) of cold water. Give the onion a good swish in the water and rub a bit with your fingertips. Drin and repeat this process several times, letting the onions soak and changing the water at 10-minute intervals. (This helps to mellow out any sharpness.)
3. Finely chop the garlic. Sprinkle with the salt and then grind the salt into the garlic with the flat blade of your knife until it forms a paste.
4. Scrape the garlic paste into a small bowl and add the caraway seed, oil and vinegar, whisking everything together.
5. Prepare your vegetables. Cut your cherry tomatoes in half. Trim, destring and slice the celery. Run a fork down the sides of your cucumber, cut in half lengthwise and then cut into half-moons. Wash and pat dry your herbs.
6. Combine the cooled bread, the tomatoes and a pinch of sea salt in a large bowl. Toss to combine, gently squeezing the tomatoes a bit to release some of their juices.
7. Drain the onions and pat them dry. Toss them into the bowl of bread and tomatoes with the cucumbers, chopped pastrami, herbs and celery.
8. Whisk the dressing together again and add to the salad, tossing everything gently to combine.
9. Divide between two salad bowls and serve immediately. (I like to use shallow pasta bowls.)

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