Cherry and heirloom panzanella with burrata and prosciutto

Name: Cherry and heirloom panzanella with burrata and prosciutto
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 4 cups day-old bread, torn into rough chunks (from a country loaf; properly stale is the point); ¼ cup olive oil, divided, plus more for finishing; 1 lb sweet cherries, pitted and halved, divided; 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved; 2 large heirloom tomatoes, cut into wedges; 2 cups baby arugula; 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste; 2 tbsp sherry vinegar, plus more to taste; 1 tsp honey; 8 oz burrata, torn; ½ cup basil leaves, torn; ¼ cup spicy pistachios, roughly chopped; 5 slices prosciutto, torn; flaky salt and black pepper, to finish

Roasted and raw cherries, two tomatoes, one dressing built from what they weep.

At a Glance

Time

1 hr 15 min, mostly idle

Adjust servings

Story

Panzanella is Tuscan thrift, a way to make stale bread the point instead of the problem. Properly dry day-old bread drinks the vinegared tomato liquid and holds its shape instead of collapsing to paste, so the juice the tomatoes and cherries weep in the colander is not a byproduct, it is the entire dressing. Build it from what they give off and you are doing the oldest version of the dish.

Ingredients

4 cups day-old breadtorn into rough chunks (from a country loaf; properly stale is the point)
¼ cup olive oildivided, plus more for finishing
1 lb sweet cherriespitted and halved, divided
1 pint cherry tomatoeshalved
2 large heirloom tomatoescut into wedges
2 cups baby arugula
1 tsp kosher saltplus more to taste
2 tbsp sherry vinegarplus more to taste
1 tsp honey
8 oz burratatorn
½ cup basil leavestorn
¼ cup spicy pistachiosroughly chopped
5 slices prosciuttotorn
flaky salt and black pepperto finish

Method

No frying, no fuss. Everything but the final toss happens hours before anyone arrives, which is exactly how a summer salad should behave.

Heat the oven to 400°F. Toss the torn bread with half the olive oil on a sheet pan and toast 10 to 12 minutes, until golden and crisp. Set aside. Do this whenever, dear boy. It waits for no one.
Halve the cherries. No pitter in the drawer? Don't chop around the stone, you'll leave most of the fruit on the board. Press both thumbs in where the stem sat and tear each one open. Stained fingers are the toll, but the meat stays whole and the stone pops right out. Set half aside raw. Toss the other half with a quarter of the olive oil on a rimmed sheet pan and roast 15 to 20 minutes, until blistered and jammy.
Meanwhile, combine the raw cherry halves with the cherry tomatoes and heirloom wedges in a colander set over a bowl. Toss with the kosher salt and let drain 30 to 45 minutes. That liquid pooling in the bowl is the whole point. Don't you dare tip it out.
When the roasted cherries come out, tip them, fruit and pan juices both, into the bowl of drained liquid sitting under the colander.
Whisk the sherry vinegar, honey and the last of the olive oil into that combined liquid. Taste, then adjust salt and vinegar until it snaps back at you.
Toss the croutons in the dressing and let them sit 10 minutes to soak. This is the move. The bread drinks the vinegared tomato water and holds its shape, and that is the whole reason a bread salad works. Ten minutes, not ten seconds. Let it drink.
Fold in the drained raw cherries and tomatoes and the arugula. Top with the torn burrata, torn basil and chopped pistachios.
Drape the prosciutto over the top. Finish with flaky salt and black pepper. Rome would be appalled. We are not.

Plan ahead, since the party deserves it. Toast the croutons and roast the cherries anytime this afternoon and hold them at room temperature. Salt and drain the raw cherries and tomatoes 30 to 45 minutes before guests arrive. Dress, soak and assemble the moment everyone sits down outside. One dish, one dressing, both fruits doing double duty. Off you go.

On the pass