Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Looking at the ingredients, this could be mistaken for a gazpacho before it gets whizzed into soup. In fact it's a classic Tuscan salad. It is one of many traditional ways of using up stale bread so nothing in the kitchen is wasted. Open textured rustic breads such as ciabatta are best for this as the oil and flavours can get into the air pockets. If you can't wait for your bread to go stale before turning it into salad, tear a fresh loaf into bite-sized chunks and dry them in the oven until they have a bit of a crunch to them.
4 x 11/2 cm thick slices of ciabatta or similar, crusts removed
6 ripe tomatoes, cut into rough chunks
1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped
Half a cucumber cut into pieces the same size as the tomato chunks
2 sticks of celery, peeled and thinly sliced
A handful of basil leaves, torn
6tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2tbsp good quality red wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 175°C/gas mark 4. Break the bread into small, rough bite-sized pieces and partly dry in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Put all the ingredients into a bowl, season, mix well and leave for 30 minutes. Serve spooned into pasta-type plates with the juices. It's a salad that will fill you up, but you could have it with grilled fish or meat, too.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments