Panzanella Salad with Shrimp and Pesto
A delicious twist on a classic Panzanella Salad. Simple summer favorite salad made with fresh veggies, pieces of Italian bread, shrimp and all mixed with fresh pesto.
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I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!
I had a nice long weekend. You probably noticed that I had a very slow week here with only two recipes posted last week. It was a busy, fun, and also sad week for me, which all results in fewer recipes shared on the blog. First, the sad news. My little fur-baby decided to have himself an adventure and wandered away from home. It’s been a week since he snuck out of a little hole in the fence. Although, I still have some hope that he is okay because one of the neighbors saw him a couple of days ago. I’ve been combing the streets several times a day, short of trespassing into my neighbor’s backyards, but he must be hiding too well. He is an old, spoiled but feisty little boy, so I’m staying hopeful that he will soon find his way home. (Or at least, will be able to follow the “bread crumbs” I left out for him.)
So that was my sad news for the week. This sad week was brightened by some sister time that I got to have with my baby sister. We had our annual summer long weekend together. We got to hang out, go out and do fun beach and market stuff, and lots of food! As many bad things as there are about sweet little kids becoming bratty teenagers, there are also lots of good things that come with kids growing up. One of the best things that is happening as my baby sister getting older is her experience with food. She is willing to try SO many new foods and realizes just how many tasty options there are beyond pizza and chicken tenders.
This whole long weekend I spend making new seafood dishes that I thought my sister would like. Oh boy, this was a fun foodie weekend and everything turned out to be a hit. Our two favorite dishes from this weekend were this amazing Panzanella salad and an Avocado Shrimp Flatbread, which I will share later this week.
I’m really not exaggerating about how good this salad turned out. Panzanella salad is a simple Tuscan salad that is made with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and bread. It’s a perfect, refreshing summer salad that is very easy to make and a nice light option on a hot day. I made it with a little twist by adding some sauteed shrimp and mixing everything in fresh pesto.
If you haven’t had Panzanella salad before, I highly recommend that you try it. My absolute favorite part of the salad is the bread. Don’t get me wrong, the whole salad is fantastic but there is something about the bread that is dense on the inside and somewhat soggy on the outside from being mixed in a delicious dressing and pesto. It’s quite a satisfying experience!
Panzanella Salad with Shrimp and Pesto
Ingredients
- 4 large tomatoes on a vine
- 1 large cucumber
- 1/2 medium Vidalia onion
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 8-10 oz artisan Italian bread
- 1/3 cup pesto
- 1 lb large raw shrimp
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- Salt
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp white balsamic vinegar
- 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 225. Cut Italian bread into 1-inch cubes. Spread cut bread in a baking sheet, in one even layer, and bake for about 15 minutes. Take out and set aside once done.
- Preheat a saute pan over medium-high heat.
- Peel, devein, and wash the shrimp. Season with some salt and lemon juice.
- Add a little bit of oil to the hot pan to grease it. Sear shrimp in the hot pan until all pink and opaque, flipping them half way through the cooking process. Take out of the pan and set aside.
- Quarter tomatoes and take out the seeds and juice. Cut into cubes and add them to the mixing bowl.
- Chop cucumber and add it to the mixing bowl.
- Slice onion as thin as you can. (Leaving large slices of raw onion will overpower the whole salad, so slice them paper-thin.)
- Add chopped parsley, shrimp, and bread cubes. Mix until evenly incorporated.
- Combine olive oil, vinegar, and lemon juice. Add vinegar mixture and pesto to the salad and mix well. Taste to see if you need to add more salt.
- Serve right away.
Nutrition
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Some More Recipes From Me:
Strawberry Balsamic Glazed Salmon Salad
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
This salad looks delicious. Just a few questions though..
How do you make a pesto sauce and being Italian, would it ruin the salad if I added a bit of garlic butter to the bread, before baking?
Thanks Jaz
you got me smiling, I could eat the page
Thank you, Anne! I hope you will get to eat the salad, it’s SO tasty!