Panzanella, the cheerful name for an Italian leftover bread salad, sounds like the deliberate toss of ingredients at the height of summer, and with this year’s tomato blight, the dish is especially dear.
Crisp a few slices of bacon, then a few slices of bread in a pan until browned; let cool. Tear the crunchy bread into pieces, cut an equal amount of very ripe tomato in similar sizes, mince a tablespoon of shallot, salt liberally (this draws the juice from the tomato) and leave the flavors to marry in a bowl for half an hour. With a brisk stir, add in the crumbled bacon and scissored baby leek on top, squeezing in a little lemon.
The transformed bread pillows taste of tomato and rounded shallot, pair well with an icy glass of Sancerre, and make for a meal that quietly rejoices in these flavors. (If you find a lemon cucumber at market, that’s a lovely addition.)
Source: seaweedbutter
