Toasted Panzanella with Roasted Tomatoes, Fresh Herbs and Walnuts Recipe

My family is shrinking. One child has decamped for college on the west coast. Another has graduated and lives in his own apartment in Brooklyn. They wind up back home for meals more than you’d think, but most nights at the Copywriters’ Kitchen just three of us sit down at table.

You probably imagine it’s easier to cook for three than for five. But it’s not.

Nest emptying—fridge filling

After being on a family-of-five-proportion autopilot for 20+ years, I can’t get the hang of downsizing. While I think I’m reducing recipe sizes, a peek in the refrigerator reveals otherwise. Last week I had enough leftovers each evening to feed—surprise!—two extra people.

With the nest emptying, many families throw in the towel with home-cooked meals and start eating more convenience and take-out food. But I want to keep scratch cooking—even for just the three of us. Especially for just the three of us.

Learning to cook for three

So I hereby pledge to cook smaller proportions. I think Michael Ruhlman’s Ratio Cookbook could help me transition. The book shows you how to play with ingredient ratios to customize dishes. Theoretically, you can bake one biscuit, cook chili for two people or make pancakes for three.

Some dishes, however, don’t require complex ratio adjustments. They’re stupidly straightforward: Boil half instead of a whole pound of pasta. Steam one cup of rice, not two. Make a smaller salad.

Other foods don’t cooperate so easily. Like bread. My family loves bread and we’re lucky to live close to Arthur Avenue, in the Bronx’s Little Italy. Every grocery store in our little suburb stocks superb Italian bread. Time was, the Copywriters’ Kitchen clan ate a whole loaf with dinner each evening.

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Today one loaf lasts a week. Or not: Some weeks I end up with two or three half loaves of dry bread. Now a frugal gourmand can do a lot with stale bread:

Croutons
As filler in meatloaf
Toasted, crumbed and tossed with buttered vegetables
Bread pudding

Panzanella: glorious bread salad

And then there’s panzanella. I’m so crazy about this Italian bread salad, I’m stretching it past its traditional summer season. My recipe for Toasted Panzanella with Roasted Tomatoes, Fresh Herbs and Walnuts, below, uses the last of summer’s treasured tomatoes with a surprise autumnal element—toasted walnuts.

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It’s so easy to make, you don’t even have to dirty a bowl—simply toss all the ingredients in a roasting pan and pop in the oven.

Twenty minutes later the mixture transforms into an amazing savory dish of garlicky croutons, golden toasted walnuts and tomatoes roasted to wrinkly, chewy sweetness.

For a warm salad, toss the panzanella with a few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Frankly, I like it without. This carb-heavy salad is a harbinger of fall feasts to come: With its bread cubes, nuts and herbs, Toasted Panzanella is basically luscious stuffing—without the bird.