Beautiful winter produce semi-deconstructed panzanella salad that’s overflowing with vibrant watermelon radishes, juicy gooseberries, crispy arugula, fresh pomegranates served overtop crusty pesto crouton-style sliced bread and finished with shaved parmesan cheese.

This salad is inspired by summer but instead uses fresh produce that’s currently available at the grocers during winter like gooseberries, pomegranate, and watermelon radish. This salad is the perfect side dish for family gatherings and will bring a pop of colour to any setting. Each crouton is topped with just the right amount for a single serving which makes it extremely easy to assemble and plate. The recipe can easily be adapted to any number of servings all you need to do is prepare the exact amount of croutons for each guest and adjust the toppings as needed.

With a traditional panzanella salad, the juices from the tomatoes normally soak into the crusty bread along with the added flavors of fresh herbs and anything else left to soak in the salad almost like a marinade which would act like a dressing and would need just a little touch of oil to finish it off. Since we’re not using fresh tomatoes in this recipe the salad doesn’t need to chill before serving and can be made almost immediately when ready to eat and dressed with a light vinaigrette.

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winter panzanella salad

Easy to assemble winter produce semi-deconstructed panzanella salad that’s overflowing with vibrant watermelon radishes, juicy gooseberries, crispy arugula, fresh pomegranates served overtop crusty pesto crouton-style sliced bread and finished with shaved parmesan cheese.

Ingredients

• 1 Italian bread loaf cut into thick pieces
• store bought or homemade pesto for brushing croutons
• 1 watermelon radish thinly sliced (mandolin works best)
• seeds from half a pomegranate
• 1 cup gooseberries cut in half
• Fresh arugula
• Shaved parmesan to garnish
• Microgreens optional
• Vinaigrette
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 TBS red wine vinegar

Instructions

• 1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray bread with light cooking oil and toast bread slices until golden. Brush with pesto when removed from the oven.
• 2. To make the vinaigrette: combine all the ingredients and whisk until fully incorporated.
• 3. To assemble the salad: layer the pesto croutons on the bottom, top with arugula and remaining ingredients. Finish with fresh parmesan and drizzle with vinaigrette.
• 4. Serve immediately