summer tomato panzanella skewers

august + tomatoes = love

i am in love with august for the simple fact that she gives us an endless supply of tomatoes throughout the last of summers months

i could eat tomatoes & cucumbers all summer long and be happy

oh brandywine i swoon over you

this time around i fell for a little basket of heirloom cherries - on a lower shelf at picnic rock, tucked away for the night, they caught my eye.

needless to say they were mine, love at first sight and coming home with me that very night

the cutest little carton of cherries sat on my counter for a few days- they were almost too cute to eat

but their destiny became clear the next day - with multiple family bbq's ahead i saw a panzanella future ahead for these cuties

what better way to serve panzanella than skewer style - mini two- bite skewers that is

toasted bread . check.

shaved, fresh from the garden cuke. check.

fresh basil that tastes like summer. check.

heirloom cherries. check.

panzanella is so easy-

confession....this was the first year that i have ever made panzenella.

i am officially ad-dic-ted.

bread, tomato & cukes - tell me what's not to love

 heirloom tomato juice & seeds are squeezed from 2 small heirlooms (the actual tomatoes were used for bruschetta, but that's another post coming soon!) next you add in sherry & olive oil
don't forget the salt- next to tomato he is the mvp




 bread is cubed, sprayed with olive oil & broiled until golden brown cucumber gets shaved basil is plucked tomatoes, they just sit there looking cute 

transfer your vinaigrette to a medium bowl

add the shaved cukes & tomatoes - make sure you toss em' around a bit

let em' hang out for about 10 minutes

the marinated tomatoes & cucumbers are layered with the bread & basil

there is no particular layering order- this is not rocket science, just make them look pretty

once you have finished stabbing yourself with the skewers 18 times while assembling these bad boys, display on a platter or whatever you have.

 be creative. it would be really awesome to display them vertically, maybe you have a foam ball or block you could stick the skewers in- i didn't but i bet it would be cool & your friends would think you are a genius

sorry, i got sidetracked there for a minute.

once you have them plated, spoon the remaining vinaigrette over the skewers.

you want to aim for the bread cubes and allow them to soak up the vinaigrette. this softens the bread a  bit and provides loads of flavor to the finished product

the flavors of these little skewers pack in the all the amazing tastes of summer!

Summer Tomato Panzanella Skewers

makes 18 skewers

you will need:

for the panzanella:

• 9 long bamboo skewers cut in half
• 36 assorted cherry tomatoes
• 1 medium cucumber
• 18 basil leaves
• small loaf of stale bread
• olive oil

for the tomato vinaigrette:

•  juice & seeds from 2 medium tomatoes
• 1 tbsp cooking sherry
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• pinch of salt

assembly:

• cube bread into 18 bite size pieces, spray with olive oil & broil on low until golden brown
• peel cucumber, using a vegetable peeler shave into strips - discard the seeds
• in a medium bowl, mix together all vinaigrette ingredients, whisk until combined
• add to the vinaigrette, tomatoes & shaved cucumber - let sit for 10 minutes
• to assemble by layering tomato, bread, basil, tomato & cucumber - or in whichever order you prefer
• drizzle remaining vinaigrette over the assemble skewers, aiming mainly for the bread cubes

Enjoy!

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