Panzanella

I'm not a great fan of "salad" but some salads are better than others. This bread and tomato salad traditionally from Tuscany is incredibly tasty and so so comforting.

Ingredients
serves 4
300g stale bread, country style salt-free Tuscan loaf or ciabatta
500g ripe tomatoes, mixed colours  
2 peppers, red/yellow
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced and halved (so not too long)
1/2 celery heart, thinly sliced (chop into short lengths)
2 tbsp capers
1 garlic clove, crushed
handful of basil leaves
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper

Method

Put the peppers under a hot grill for as long as it takes to char the skin then turn and blacken the other side. It'll take a good 10 - 15 minutes. Remove from the grill and wrap in clingfilm. Allow to cool.

If using a loaf removed the hard crusts. A ciabatta should have soft enough crusts to leave. Cut up the bread into about 1cm cubes and leave out to dry further. 

Cut up the ripe tomatoes into small pieces the same size as the bread. Place in a colander and sprinkle 1/2 tsp salt.  Allow to drain for 20 minutes.

Add the capers, crushed garlic paste, red wine vinegar and the extra virgin olive oil to the collected tomato water. Squeeze the tomatoes to get as much out of them as possible.  Season the vinaigrette with ground pepper then allow to infuse for 10 minutes.

Thinly slice the red onion and then cut them into halves so that they're not too long. Also thinly slice the half a celery heart. 

Once the pepper have cooled, remove the skin and the seeds. Slice into slithers about 3cm long. 

In a large bowl add everything together, the bread, tomatoes, roasted pepper, red onions, celery heart. Add the basil leaves, tearing any large leaves in half. Pour over the vinaigrette and mix gently but well using your hands.  

Leave to infuse for at least an hour.  The longer it's left the better it will taste but the soggier the bread will become, so it's a balance.

Serve at room temperature.