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Panzanella
Serves 4 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 250-300g country-style bread, ideally a few days old
- 1⁄2 red onion, thinly sliced
- 60ml red wine vinegar
- 3 tomatoes
- 2 small cucumbers
- 1 large handful of rocket, rinsed and dried
- 60ml extra virgin olive oil
- 20 basil leaves, torn
Method
This dish is best prepared about an hour before serving to give time for the flavours to combine.
Remove the crusts from the bread. Cut the bread into chunks, transfer to a sieve and briefly pass them under running water to moisten. Squeeze out any excess liquid, then let the bread sit in the sieve for 10-15 minutes until springy. Crumble the bread into a large bowl.
Place the red onion in a small bowl with half of the vinegar and cover with cold water. Set aside while you put together the rest of the salad.
Quarter the tomatoes and remove the seeds. Chop into 2cm pieces. Peel the cucumbers, slice them lengthways and spoon out the seeds with a teaspoon. Chop the cucumber into pieces.
Drain the onions and place in the bowl with the bread. Add the tomato, cucumber and rocket. Season with salt and pepper, and dress with the olive oil and the remaining red wine vinegar. Toss everything together to combine. Add the torn basil leaves just before serving.
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