Panzanella the great

[spacedlaw]

Panzanella is a great way to use dried bread and tomatoes and I have lots of that.
In fact I am eating two tomatoes a meal this week and it is becoming a little much.
Still.
Can't complain. Some folks have nothing to eat.


Again this is MY recipe, so no raw onion, no vinegar.
You can see salad in the picture but that's just a bed I put in the plate for the picture-

For panzanella you need:
Ripe tomatoes
Dried bread, preferably in slice at it makes it more manageable.
Salt
Chives
Basil
Olive oil

Run each slice or chunk of dried bread under the tap and set in a plate or colander to rest while you cut the tomatoes and chop the herbs.
Put them in a salad bowl and sprinkle a little salt on the tomatoes.
Toss.
Squeeze each slice of bread to let any excess water out.
Shred the bread into small pieces.
Add to the tomatoes.
Toss again.
Let it all rest in the fridge, at least an hour.
Before serving, toss it again and drizzle with a little olive oil.


I was lucky because our bread was VERY dry and has by nature a very robust texture. I had prepared the panzanella Tuesday evening and was expecting the bread to have dissolved by today but it resisted very well. It did embark most of the juices but were still firm under the tooth. With a more normal bread, I would suggest to eat the panzanella the same day.