Close your eyes and the fresh tomatoes and basil in this Panzanella Salad with Panko Baked Fish will transport you to the rolling hills of Tuscany.

Panzanella Salad with Panko crumbed fish

Panzanella salad sits pride of place on an Italian dinner table, nestled next to olives, white wine and pasta. To me, there is no other dish that signifies the start of Summer quite as well as it does.

The tomatoes in this salad are the real showoffs, they take centre stage and are complemented beautifully by colourful capsicum, basil, pickled shallots and a red wine vinaigrette. To soak up all the lovely dressing and juices we’ll add crispy croutons made from ciabatta and lightly grated garlic, parmesan and olive oil.

We’ll serve these with a very simple baked fish with a panko parmesan crust, with just a few basil leaves in the crumb for good measure.

Pick basil leaves and add to the bowl with the croutons. Add tomato mixture and dress the salad.

Panzanella Salad Ingredients

Ciabatta
Garlic
Parmesan (block)
Olive oil
Basil
Panko breadcrumbs
Fillets firm white fish (e.g. Cod or John Dory)
Mixed baby tomatoes (heirloom)
Yellow capsicum
Red capsicum
Shallot
Red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper

See recipe card for quantities.

How to make Panzanella Salad

1. Turn on your oven to 200 C. Tear ciabatta onto a baking tray. Peel garlic and finely grate over the bread. Finely grate parmesan over the bread. Drizzle over olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper and mix well so bread is covered in oil. Place in the oven for 5 minutes or until starting to brown.

2 rolls ciabatta (150g)
2 cloves garlic
20g parmesan (block)
2 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper

2. Grate parmesan onto a plate. Finely slice a few basil leaves. Add panko bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Get fish out and ready to dip into the mixture.

60g parmesan
4 basil leaves
½ cup panko breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper
4 fillets firm white fish (e.g. Cod or John Dory)

3. Take the bread (now croutons) out of the oven and place in a serving bowl or dish.

Dip fish fillets into the panko crumb mixture and cover on all sides. Place on the baking tray.

4. Dip fish fillets into the panko crumb mixture and cover on all sides. As we are not using egg this will be a lighter crumb, but it will still be lovely. Place on the baking tray and drizzle or spray olive oil on each fillet. Place in the oven for 12-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of your fish.

4 fillets firm white fish
1.5 tablespoon olive oil

Add chopped tomatoes and chop capsicums into a colander and sprinkle over salt.

5. Quarter tomatoes and chop capsicums into small pieces. Serve some tomatoes and capsicums on your child’s plate now. Add the rest to a colander and sprinkle over salt. This will bring out the flavours.

400g mixed baby tomatoes (heirloom)
½ red capsicum
½ yellow capsicum
Generous salt

6. Finely dice shallot and mix with red wine vinegar.

1 shallot
2 tablespoon red wine vinegar

7. Remove the fish from the oven when ready and set aside.

8. Mix olive oil, salt and pepper into the shallot mixture to make a dressing.

¼ cup olive oil
Salt and pepper

9. Pick basil leaves and add to the bowl with the croutons. When you are ready to serve, add tomato mixture and dress the salad.

½ bunch basil

Panzanella Salad - Serve panzanella salad with panko crumbed fish.

10. Serve adults panzanella salad with panko crumbed fish. Serve children tomatoes, capsicum, croutons and flaked fish.

Substitutions

Alternative proteins - Instead of using fish you could use chicken tenderloins or chicken breast (just increase the baking time to 20 mins).
Vegetarian - Swap fish for firm tofu or alternatively you could bake white beans or chickpeas in the crumb with lots of olive oil.
Gluten Free - Use gluten free panko crumbs or quinoa flakes. Use gluten free bread rolls instead of ciabatta.
Dairy Free - Use a dairy free parmesan.

Kid-Friendly Variations

Serve tomatoes and capsicums plain before adding any salt or dressing.
Serve flaked fish, and be careful of bones.
Add croutons and a few basil leaves on the side.

Panzanella Salad - Serve tomatoes and capsicums plain before adding any salt or dressing. Serve flaked fish, and be careful of bones. Add croutons and a few basil leaves on the side.

Equipment

You will need an oven, a baking tray, a colander.

Top tip

This crumb is designed to be light, so we are not coating our fish in egg first, but rather letting the juices of the fish pick up the panko crust. This means the crumb will just be a light dusting around the fish and the fish will really come through.

Recipe