Panzanella
Italian Bread Salad

2 large ripe tomatoes, cut into bite-size pieces
1 small cucumber, peeled and diced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, very finely minced
1 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces with your hands
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar, plus more as
needed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
8 slices thick stale country style Italian bread, torn into bite-size
pieces

In a bowl, combine the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, garlic and basil.
Drizzle with the 1/2 cup olive oil and the 3 Tbsp vinegar, season with
salt and pepper and toss well.
Place half of the bread in a wide, shallow bowl. If the bread is quite
stale and dry, you should first spoon a few Tbsp of water over the
bread and let it soak some of the water up, then with your hands
squeeze all of the water out and place bread in a different bowl
before proceeding. If it isn't too stale or didn't have any, then you
can skip this step.

Spoon half of the tomato mixture over the bread. Layer the remaining
bread on top and then the remaining tomato mixture. Cover and refrigerate
for at least one hour or until serving time. Just before serving, toss
the salad and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper. At this point
the bread should have absorbed the water from the tomatoes and be all
moist. If the bread seems dry for some reason, add a little bit of olive
oil and toss well. Serve immediately. Serves 4-6.

"Adriana's Italian Gourmet Cookies"

If you would like more of our Italian and Sicilian recipes straight
from Italy be sure to visit CookiesFromItaly.com

Ciao-Ciao!
Adriana

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