italian tomato and bread salad

By blum099

You’ll love this juicy summer side dish.

Ingredients

• • 200g stale or part-baked ciabatta bread
• • 600g ripe mixed tomatoes, roughly chopped
• • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• • a handful of small capers, soaked and drained
• • 1 red onion, peeled, halved and very finely sliced
• • 1 x 280g jar roasted peppers in olive oil, drained and roughly chopped
• • optional: 8 anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained
• • good-quality red wine vinegar
• • good-quality extra virgin olive oil
• • a bunch of fresh basil, leaves picked

Preparation

Step 1

Tear the ciabatta into thumb-sized pieces, then pop them on a tray in a warm place to dry out a little.

Put the tomatoes into a bowl, season with salt and pepper and mix together. Add the capers, onion, peppers, bread and anchovies, if using. Mix again with your hands to really get the flavours going.

Stir in 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar and about 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Have a taste and add more salt, pepper, vinegar or oil if you think it's needed.

Tear the basil leaves over the salad, give it another good stir, and it’s ready to serve. Lovely on a hot summer’s day with barbecued meats or roast chicken.

Tip: If you can’t get hold of ciabatta, any country-style bread will do.