Panzanella

Panzanella is a rustic Tuscan summer dish which is a salad of stale bread, ripe tomatoes and olive oil in its simplest form, although I have added a few other things to make it more delicious and interesting. (In this recipe, I have added red onions, cucumber, capers and herbs; you may also add chillies, roasted peppers, anchovies, olives etc.) It may seem a bit odd that I am making this dish in the middle of winter, but I have ordered some really delicious tomatoes online and can’t wait to eat them. I think it is also a great way of using the leftover bread that I have at home.

Panzanella uses only a few inexpensive ingredients but goes a long way to feed a hungry family. A lot of recipes suggest rehydrating the stale bread by running it under the tap or immersing it in water. However, I think it may be more tasty by tossing the bread with a vinaigrette and the juice released from the tomatoes. Do not use fresh bread for this dish as it will become soggy.

This dish is best prepared about an hour before serving to give time for the flavours to mingle. But it may not be keep well for more than a few hours as the fresh vegetables will tend to lose their crunch in the vinegar.

Panzanella

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Serves: 2 Prep Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes 20 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

• 150g stale bread (e.g. ciabatta, sourdough bread or country-style bread), ideally a few days old, crusts removed and torn into small chunks
• About 300g very ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 45ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• ½ red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cucumber, skinned, deseeded, cut into small chunks and dried
• 25g capers in brine, rinsed and drained
• A handful rocket leaves
• 12g basil leaves, torn

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Toss the bread chunks with 1tbsp of the olive oil. Spread them on a tray and toast for about 15 minutes. The bread should be hard to touch but not coloured.
2. Make a vinaigrette by mixing the remaining olive oil, the red wine vinegar and a little salt. Toss the bread, tomatoes and onion with the vinaigrette. Leave it to steep for at least 15 minutes, or preferably for about an hour. The bread will be rehydrated by the vinaigrette as well as the juice released by the tomatoes during resting. The vinaigrette will also remove the harshness of the onion, make it softer and enhance its flavour.
3. Mix in the cucumber, capers, rocket leaves and basil just before serving. Adjust the seasoning with salt and freshly ground black pepper.