Or the ‘stale bread salad’ as is described by me. This salad derives from Tuscany and is a great way of using up stale/old bread – particularly bakery/fresh bread. I’ve added avocado & olives to this one as I like what they bring to the dish but you can of course leave them, or add more things in! Don’t be shy with the olive oil, it’s the magic maker of the salad.

Method

Tear the bread up in to chunks and leave out on a tray in a warm place – this speeds up how stale the bread is; the more stale it is, the more it absorbs the flavours of the other ingredients.

Dice/slice the tomatoes to however you desire; I like to use different sizes & colours as this makes it look more colourful, increase the nutrient profile of the salad & brings more textures. 

Slice the onion as finely as you can and add to a large bowl with the tomatoes. Slice the olives in half and add those to the bowl too. Season everything well with the salt & pepper.

Add the red wine vinegar, olive oil, most of the basil and the hardened bread chunks and toss together with your hands ensuring everything get mixed together. Dice the avocado and stir through afterwards (if you add it with everything else it will get squashed/broken up when you mix it).

Transfer to your serving dish/plates and finish with the last of the basil leaves.