Pastrami and Rye Panzanella

Panzanella is an Italian salad designed to use up stale bread by soaking it in tomato juices to soften it as part of the salad.  This particular recipe is a fun twist on a pastrami on rye sandwich using pastrami, Swiss cheese and rye bread in addition to traditional ingredients like Romaine, red onion, cucumber, and tomatoes.

The Lawyer was the inspiration for this salad when he recently made homemade turkey pastrami, if you can believe it.  It was a three day project starting with brining a turkey breast for a day, then smoking it on day 2, then curing it until the third day.  The results are excellent and I've been looking for a variety of ways to use the pastrami beyond the usual Reuben sandwich.  If you don't have your own pastrami-smoking Lawyer on hand, you can always buy a thick slice at the store.  It's faster but probably not quite as interesting.

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Pastrami and Rye Panzanella

Serves 4

Choose an airy light rye bread over the dark, dense sort; the latter is too chewy for this salad.

1/2 cup very thinly sliced red onion

3 cups cubed light rye bread

1 garlic clove, grated

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine (or sherry) vinegar

1 pound tomatoes, cored and cut into 1-inch chunks (or cherry tomatoes)

1 medium English cucumber

2 Romaine hearts, chopped

3/4 cup basil leaves, large leaves torn

1/4 pound thick-sliced pastrami, coarsely chopped

¼ pound Swiss cheese, cubed

1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves

Preheat the oven to 450°F with the rack in the middle. Put the onion in a bowl and cover with ice water for ten minutes, then drain and pat dry. (Soaking raw onion in cold water mellows the harsh bite.)

Meanwhile, spread out the bread cubes on a baking sheet and bake until the edges are crispy and golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Put the oil and vinegar into a bowl, add the grated garlic and whisk to combine.

In a large bowl, combine the cooled bread, tomatoes and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Toss to combine, gently pressing the tomatoes a bit to release some of the juices.

Chop the cucumber into bite-sized pieces. Add the onions, cucumber, Romaine, basil leaves, pastrami, Swiss cheese and parsley leaves to the salad. Whisk together the dressing, add it to the salad and gently toss to combine.