2 sl Stale white country bread
-(preferably Tuscan saltless
-bread); thick, at least 1
-day old
6 lg Really ripe tomatoes;
-deseeded and diced
1 sm Red onion; finely chopped
1/2 Cucumber; diced
1 sm Celery stick; diced
1 cl Garlic; crushed
6 tb Extra virgin olive oil
2 tb Red wine vinegar
20 g Basil leaves; roughly torn,
-plus extra to serve
Salt and freshly ground
-black pepper
Cut the crusts from the bread and tear into small pieces. Put the
bread into a bowl and sprinkle with 2 tb cold water. The bread should
be only just moist but not soggy.
Work the bread with your fingers--like rubbing in butter when making
pastry--to distribute the moisture through the bread and break it into
smaller crumbs.
Lightly mix in 2/3rds of the tomatoes, the onion, cucumber, celery,
and garlic.
Drizzle with half the olive oil, add the vinegar, season well with
salt and pepper, then toss very gently.
Cover and leave to stand for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to be
absorbed into the bread.
Lightly mix in the basil then serve drizzled with the rmaining olive
oil and scattered with the remaining tomato and extra basil leaves.
Recipe by Flavours of Tuscany by Maxine Clark, 2006
