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Summer’s really the time for the Italian bread salad called panzanella. Stale bread in Tuscany gets rehydrated with water, squeezed into a pulp, and mixed with ripe tomatoes, onions, red wine vinegar and good olive oil. There’s not much better on a hot day. But stale bread knows no season, and winter vegetables sometimes need the Italian treatment, too.
Chioggia beets first came from their namesake town near Venice, and the pale, pinkish roots display bright concentric rings when they’re cut across, hence the alternate moniker “bull’s-eye beets.” They’re slightly sweeter and not as earthy as plain red beets, and they don’t give off nearly so much red juice when they’re cut. Golden beets share the same qualities.
Modern versions of panzanella usually feature toasted or grilled cubes of bread and torn basil leaves, but I reached for the spicy green sauce that’s a regular feature in my refrigerator. Shallots provide the oniony bite, and lots of good olive oil make this cold season salad delicious.
Recipe
2–3 Chioggia or golden beets
2–3 slices good bread, toasted
1–2 cloves garlic
1–2 shallots, sliced
2 teaspoons spicy green sauce*
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
4–5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher-style sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
*or about ¼ cup finely chopped herbs and a small, finely chopped jalapeño
If you have bunch beets, trim the leaves and cook them like fresh spinach. Scrub the beets but leave them unpeeled. Boil them in enough water to cover until they can be easily pierced with a knife. Drain, cool and peel with your hands and a butter knife for scraping any tough bits. Cut crosswise to reveal the bull’s eye, then into bite-sized pieces.
Rub the toasted bread on both sides with the whole cloves of garlic, then cut into bite-sized pieces. Combine the beets, bread, and other ingredients in a large bowl and toss well. Let the salad sit for an hour or so before serving.
