Recipe written by Vanja van der Leeden
With this panzanella variation, I’m sure to upset some Italians, but do they know that within Italy, there are also lively variations on the theme? In Sicily, for example, they add fried eggplant, and on the Tuscan coast, you eat bread salad with seafood. I'm writing this to cover myself, as I’m afraid of the rotten tomatoes that will be thrown at me from Italy because of this panzanella with mango, lime, and a dash of fish sauce. But if you consider that the Romans liberally sprayed ancient fish sauce garum and that mangoes now grow in Sicily, it's not so crazy after all. Moreover, Dutch tomatoes aren’t as sweet as Italian ones, and the mango helps to make the dish sweeter.
Ingredients for 4 people
800 grams ripe tomatoes
¼ tsp. salt
½ red onion, peeled
1 tbsp. red or white wine vinegar
2 stalks celery
4 snack cucumbers (approx. 175 grams)
1 ripe mango
4 tbsp. lime juice
1 tsp. honey
2 tbsp. (plant-based) fish sauce
pinch of chili flakes
3 cm fresh ginger, peeled
8 tbsp. good olive oil
200 grams stale bread (2 thick slices sourdough)
a few sprigs of basil, the leaves
freshly ground black pepper
Cut the tomatoes into wedges or slices and sprinkle with salt.
Slice the onion into very thin rings (I do this on a mandoline). Soak in 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar and 1 tablespoon water.
Remove the strings from the celery and slice the stalks into very thin pieces. Cut the cucumbers into pieces and smash them with a mortar and pestle so the dressing can soak in.
Peel the mango and cut into cubes or strips.
Mix the lime juice with the honey, fish sauce, and 6 tablespoons of olive oil. Grate the ginger into a pulp and mix into the dressing with a pinch of chili flakes. In a large bowl, mix with the tomatoes, celery slices, and cucumber. Let sit for 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Tear the bread into coarse pieces, drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and roast the croutons for 7-8 minutes in the oven.
Distribute the onion rings and bread croutons over the salad and garnish with plenty of basil.
