Ingredients
- 300g stale/one day old bread
- 350g cherry tomatoes
- 1 big cucumber
- 30g basil
- 1 large red onion
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 4 tbsp white vinegar
- 3 tbsp olives (green or taggiasca olives)
- 300g cooked borlotti beans (from a can, rinsed)
- Black pepper to taste
Method
- Start by slicing the stale bread and placing it in a shallow bowl/tin.
- Pour enough water into the bowl to cover the bread and add 2 tbsp of vinegar. Allow the bread to absorb the liquids.
- In the meantime, prepare the other ingredients. Cut the cherry tomatoes into 4 parts each, Cut the cucumber into 4 quarters, then slice each quarter. Slice the red onion as well. If raw onions are too strong for you, you can soak them in cold water.
- Roughly chop the basil and gather all the prepared ingredients in a mixing bowl, add green olives and borlotti beans.
- Once the bread has absorbed the water, squeeze it to remove any excess moisture. This will help the bread soak up the flavours of the other ingredients and dressing.
- Add the bread to the mixing bowl and mix everything together using your hands, breaking the bread into smaller pieces as you go.
- Season the salad with olive oil, the remaining vinegar, salt, and pepper. Mix well to evenly distribute the flavours.
- If you can, let the salad sit for approximately 10 minutes to allow the bread to absorb all the flavours even more.
Recipe credit: Francesca Tieghi. Follow Francesca on Instagram @recipesandplaces.