Panzanella

Salads simple, fast and fresh The Australian Women's Weekly Home Library

Preparation time 25 minutes

Panzanella is a traditional Italian bread salad that probably came about
as a way of using up yesterday's bread. For this recipe, we used
ciabatta, a wood-fired white loaf readily available from most
supermarkets, but any Italian crusty bread may be used in its place.

1 Long loaf stale ciabatta
6 medium (1.1kg) tomatoes
2 trimmed (150g) celery sticks
1 (130g) Lebanese cucumber
1 medium (170g) red onion
1/4 cup (60ml) red wine vinegar
1/2 cup (125ml) olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 cup finely shredded fresh basil leaves

Cut ciabatta in half horizontally; reserve one half for another use.
Remove and discard soft centre from remaining half; cut remaining bread
into 2cm cubes.
Cut tomatoes into wedges; discard seeds, chop coarsely.
Cut celery into 4 strips lengthways; coarsely chop strips.
Peel cucumber; cut in half lengthways, discard seeds. Cut halves into
1cm-thick slices.
Chop onion coarsely, combine with bread cubes, tomato, celery and
cucumber in large bowl.
Combine remaining ingredients for dressing in screw-top jar; shake
well. Pour dressing over salad; toss gently.

SERVES 4 per serve 30.1g fat; 1600kJ

Serve with a glass of Chianti for a light lunch or
with your favourite Italian dish, such as veal scaloppine or baked
sardines, for a delicious main meal.

tips Add capers for extra flavour.
Instead of discarding the soft white centre of the bread, you can
blend or process it into fine breadcrumbs, or try cutting it into small
cubes and toasting until golden brown and crunchy.

by Gladys Dinletir

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