Panzanella (Tuscan Bread Salad)

Directions

1. Take some slices or chunks of stale bread and dunk them in water until they begin to soften. This should not take long.
2. Remove the bread from the bowl and squeeze out the water, then shred the bread with your hands into a salad bowl.
3. Throw in some chopped ripe tomatoes, sliced or chopped red onion and a few basil leaves.
4. Dress your salad with abundant olive oil, some wine vinegar, salt and pepper.
5. You can serve panzanella immediately if you like, but it doesn't mind a wait. In fact, it develops flavor if let it rest for a while, say an hour or two. It can even be made well ahead, in which case you may want to hold off on the vinegar, which can become overpowering, until you are ready to serve.
6. It is quite common to add some chopped cucumber to the above basic recipe, which I do whenever I have it on hand. It lends a certain brightness to the recipe. Chopped celery can also be a nice addition. In fact, I sometimes like to experiment with panzanella—with apologies to my Tuscan friends—with all sorts of additional ingredients.
7. See link below for full recipe and tips!