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    Home / Recipes / Course / Salad

    4 Aug 11, 2016 Appetizer  |   Jump to Recipe

    Watermelon and Tomato Panzanella Recipe

    I’m going to kick off today’s post with a little personal news!!

    This post may contain affiliate links.

    Watermelon and Tomato Panzanella Recipe

    For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been consumed with developing 25 new breakfast recipes for a local San Diego health and wellness group, The 30 Clean!  I’ll be spending the rest of August photographing and putting together a full eBook.  More details to come once it’s done!  If you’d like a first look at some of these recipes, be sure to check in with me on Instagram where I’m documenting my testing using the new Instagram Stories feature.

    Speaking of IG Stories, what do you guys think of them?  Do you like using the function?  Or just viewing Stories?  So far, I’ve really been loving them!  When it comes to social media, I spend most of my time on Instagram, and I really like that I can now share quick clips of my day-to-day.  Jorge and I are always checking out new restaurants around San Diego, and many of those experiences don’t make it to my IG feed.  With Stories, I feel like I can quickly share these visits without worrying about the perfect lighting or plating or whatever.  They’re fun and they’re casual.  So if you’re interested in following along, be sure to find me on Instagram: @brandiego.

    Now, let’s get to the recipe.

    Watermelon, Tomatoes and Basil

    Jorge and I recently had a fab dinner at the new Cucina Sorella in Kensington, and one dish I was particularly blown away by was their Watermelon and Tomato Panzanella.  The tomatoes were ripe and supple, and the watermelon was impossibly juicy.  The croutons were also soft outside and crunchy within.  Luckily, the Chef gave me some clues on how he prepared the dish.

    Macerated Watermelon

    The secret to those perfectly juicy cubes of watermelon?  Maceration.  First, start with a deliciously ripe summer watermelon.  Next, cut it into small cubes and toss with white balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, salt and sugar.  Let sit for 20 – 30 minutes, and the watermelon transforms into a sweeter, tangier version of itself.  The flavorful juices that pool below are also used to dress the crunchy croutons (more about that next).

    Rye Bread

    Cubed Rye Bread

    The Chef also mentioned that he used good, Jewish rye bread in his panzanella recipe, so I am doing the same here.  Dense cubes of rye bread are baked in the oven until crunchy throughout.  The cubes are then tossed in some of the watermelon juice right before serving.  The outside of the croutons turn tender and flavorful while the inside holds on to some good crunch.

    These steps may seem a little involved for just a salad recipe, but I promise you that this will be one of the best panzanella’s you’ve ever tasted.  The ingredient list is pretty simple too.  Just keep in mind:

    1. Start with good, ripe produce.  The salad only has 5 things in it, so they all need to taste good.
    2. Macerate the watermelon to draw out liquid, and concentrate sweet and tart flavors.
    3. Use a dense bread for the croutons like rye or whole wheat.  Toss croutons in leftover watermelon juice to amp up flavor.

    Watermelon and Tomato Panzanella Recipe

    Watermelon and Tomato Panzanella Recipe

    Watermelon and Tomato Panzanella Recipe

    by Brandon Matzek
    Adapted from Cucina Sorella.
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Servings 4 servings

    Ingredients
      

    For the vinaigrette:

    • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
    • 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
    • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
    • Kosher salt
    • Freshly ground black pepper

    For the salad:

    • 4 cups cubed watermelon
    • 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
    • 2 teaspoons sugar
    • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
    • Kosher salt
    • 4 cups cubed bread, preferably a dense bread like rye or whole wheat
    • 2 ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges (preferably heirloom tomatoes)
    • 2 avocados, peeled, pitted and diced
    • Fresh basil leaves, torn if large
    • Freshly ground black pepper

    Instructions
     

    • To make the vinaigrette, combine oil, vinegar and lemon juice in a jar along with 2 pinches of salt and several turns of black pepper. Cover and shake to combine.
    • Place cubed watermelon in a large bowl with vinegar, sugar, lemon juice and a couple pinches of salt, tossing to combine. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, lift watermelon from their juices into a large salad bowl. Reserve the juices.
    • Meanwhile, toast bread in a 400°F oven until crunchy throughout and just starting to turn golden (10 - 12 minutes). Toss the cubes halfway through. Let cool. Just before serving, toss bread with 5 tablespoons of the reserved watermelon juice. I like to drizzle a little of the juice, toss, then drizzle more, then toss again.
    • To serve, place the tomatoes and avocado into the bowl with the watermelon and season with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Drizzle with the vinaigrette, then toss to evenly coat. Gently toss in the bread and a handful of basil leaves. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper. Enjoy immediately!
    Tried this recipe?Tag @brandiego on Instagram so I can check it out!

    Here are some other watermelon and/or tomato recipes on Kitchen Konfidence:

    Watermelon and Tomato Wedge Salad

    Watermelon and Tomato Wedge Salad

    Watermelon and Tomato Margarita

    Watermelon Tomato Margarita

    Watermelon Ginger Spritzer

    Watermelon Ginger Spritzer

    Tomato and Horseradish Cocktail Sauce

    Cocktail Sauce With Shrimp

    Heirloom Tomato Jam

    Heirloom Tomato Jam

    Pressure Cooker Tomato Sauce

    Pressure Cooker Tomato Sauce

    4
    Brandon and Federico
    Brandon

    I’m Brandon: food explorer, recipe curator, cocktail shaker, dessert lover. Kitchen Konfidence is how I document my time spent in my favorite space, the kitchen. Did you make a recipe? Tag @brandiego on Instagram so I can see the how it went!

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    Categories: Appetizer Tags: balsamic vinegar, basil, black pepper, kosher salt, lemon, olive oil, rye bread, sugar, tomato, watermelon

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. averie @ averie cooks says

      August 12, 2016 at 8:23 am

      Congrats on your ebook!! What super exciting news! Sounds awesome and I can’t wait to see it!

      And I’ve never even heard of Cucina Sorella. Where have I been! Because I need to check out this salad!

      Reply
      • Brandon Matzek says

        August 12, 2016 at 9:50 am

        Thanks Averie! And yeah, you have to check our Sorella – it’s the latest restaurant from the Urban Kitchen Group (Cucina Urbana and Enoteca).

        Reply
    2. Joyce @ Sun Diego Eats says

      August 12, 2016 at 9:56 am

      Obsessed with the watermelon panzanella from Cucina Sorella!! We got a house in Palm Springs this weekend and I was planning on trying to make that salad for our lunch on Saturday too! Love all the pointers, this is entirely serendipitous 🙂

      Reply
      • Brandon Matzek says

        August 12, 2016 at 10:04 am

        No way!!! Ok well you’ll have to make this and let me know how it stacks up :). Enjoy PS!

        Reply
    3. Kevin | Keviniscooking says

      August 12, 2016 at 10:24 am

      Great tips here, beautiful photos and I want that bowl! This is summer salad for sure, thanks Brandon.

      Reply
      • Brandon Matzek says

        August 12, 2016 at 3:28 pm

        Thanks Kevin!!

        Reply
    4. lynn @ the actor's diet says

      August 16, 2016 at 6:09 pm

      So great, Brandon, congrats to you! I quit Snapchat ever since their recent “Yellowface” controversy – honestly I was looking for an excuse to delete it b/c I couldn’t keep up with that AND instagram stories!

      Reply
      • Brandon Matzek says

        August 17, 2016 at 5:08 pm

        Ugh I saw that craziness on snapchat. Smh. Thanks Lynn!!

        Reply
    5. Brian @ A Thought For Food says

      August 18, 2016 at 5:50 am

      Congrats on the project! That sounds like a lot of fun (a lot of work, too… but fun work)!

      I’m all about the Instagram Stories… I never got into SnapChat (couldn’t handle another app) and this allows me to enjoy the thing everyone’s been talking about without having to join another social media platform. So, yeah, I dig it.

      Great combo here with the tomato and watermelon (two ingredients I haven’t been eating nearly enough of).

      Reply
    6. Liz Schmitt says

      August 18, 2016 at 3:41 pm

      5 stars
      Beautiful – we live on panzanella during summer and I’m going to start adding all kinds of meon to future ones.

      Reply
      • Brandon Matzek says

        August 19, 2016 at 8:57 am

        I think it’s one of my favorite types of salads. Thanks Liz!!

        Reply

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    Brandon and Federico

    I'm Brandon: food explorer, recipe curator, cocktail shaker, dessert lover. Kitchen Konfidence is how I document my time spent in my favorite space, the kitchen. Read More…


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