1
StepSlice the red onion into thin half moons and leave it in cold water for 10 minutes to take off the raw bite. Drain well.
Salads
Tuscan Panzanella
A summer salad invented to use up stale bread: torn chunks softened in tomato juice and vinegar, with cucumber, raw red onion and a lot of basil. It only works with tomatoes that are properly ripe and bread with a real crust.
20 min
Prep: 20 / Cook: 0
4
servings
Easy
Difficulty
4.0
4 Ratings
Ingredients
- 300 g stale country bread
- 800 g ripe tomato
- 1 piece cucumber
- 1 piece red onion
- 1 bunch basil
- 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 80 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 0 salt
- 0 black pepper
Preparation
6 Steps
2
StepTear the bread into rough 3 cm pieces. Quarter the tomatoes over a bowl so you catch every drop of juice, salt them lightly and let them sit for 10 minutes until a good pool has collected.
3
StepPour the tomato juice over the bread and toss. The bread should be damp and yielding but not falling apart — if it is still hard in the middle, add a couple of tablespoons of cold water.
4
StepPeel the cucumber in stripes, halve it lengthways, scrape out the watery seeds with a teaspoon and cut into thick half moons.
5
StepCombine bread, tomatoes, cucumber, drained onion and most of the basil. Dress with the vinegar and olive oil, season with salt and pepper and toss with your hands.
6
StepLeave at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving, then taste again — it will almost always want more salt and another splash of vinegar. Finish with the last of the basil.
Chef's Tip
Let the finished salad sit for 30 minutes before serving so the bread absorbs the dressing and the onion loses its edge — that rest is the recipe. If your bread is fresh rather than stale, dry the torn pieces in a 150 C oven for ten minutes and cool them first.
Comments (2)
my bread was too fresh and it collapsed into paste. my fault, not the recipe
dry it in a low oven next time and let it cool completely before it meets the tomato juice
the half hour rest is the entire recipe. do not serve it straight away