Based on the classic Italian panzanella, this bread and tomato salad is even simpler. You need robust, open-textured bread, to absorb all the lovely tomato juices, and the tomatoes themselves must be good, tasty ones. If you use a mixture of varieties and sizes, the salad looks particularly enticing.
Serves 4
150g sourdough or other coarse bread (1–2 days old)
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
About 500g tomatoes (ideally a mixture of types, shapes and colours)
1 garlic clove, halved (optional)
A good handful of basil leaves
A pinch of sugar (optional)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 180oC/Gas 4. Tear the bread into small, bite-sized chunks. Put them into a bowl with 3 tablespoons of the extra virgin oil and some salt and pepper. Toss well to coat. Scatter on a baking tray and bake for 10–15 minutes until golden. Leave to cool completely.
Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes into bite-sized pieces (halve cherry tomatoes, cut medium tomatoes into wedges, etc). Take a large bowl and, if you fancy a little garlicky tang to your salad, rub the inside of the bowl with the cut surface of the garlic clove. Add the tomatoes, along with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Tear about two-thirds of the basil over the tomatoes and add some salt and pepper. Toss well and leave to macerate while the bread is cooling.
When the bread is cooled, toss it thoroughly with the tomatoes. Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary, plus a pinch of sugar if you like. Leave for at least 30 minutes – up to 2 hours – so the bread can soften a little. Toss one more time, then scatter over the remaining basil leaves and serve.
PLUS ONE Add some coarsely chopped stoned olives to the salad for extra flavour.
PLUS TWO, THREE AND FOUR Add a thinly sliced red onion, a few anchovy fillets and a scattering of baby capers, and you have pretty much a classic panzanella.