Sagely is a tool to help you avoid allergens, not a guarantee, and it can miss them. You decide what goes in your food, so always check the ingredients and packaging yourself.
Ingredients
- 4–5 cups (loosely packed) stale bread (, torn into 2.5cm/1" chunks (~180g/6 oz, depending on bread used))
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 medium tomatoes ((Note 1))
- 1 tsp cooking/kosher salt ((or 3/4 tsp table salt))
- 2 Lebanese cucumbers ((or 1 long telegraph/English cucumber), peeled (optional) (Note 3))
- 1 cup basil leaves (, loosely packed)
- 2 tbsp red or white wine vinegar ((Note 4 for other options))
- 5 g Dijon mustard
- 8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (, the best you can afford)
- 1 ½ tsp garlic (, finely minced (~1 large or 2 small))
- ¼ tsp salt
Method
Toast bread:
Preheat oven to 180°C /350°F (160°C fan).
Toss bread chunks with 1 tbsp olive oil in a bowl.
Toast: Spread bread on a a tray and toast for about 15 minutes, until the outside is becoming golden and crunchy but the inside is still a little soft, like toast. Remove and leave to cool.
Salad:
Cut tomato into 8 wedges each. Cut some of these wedges into half (I like irregular shapes for this rustic salad).
Sweat tomato with salt: Put tomatoes into a colander over a large bowl. Season with the salt, toss and set aside for 10 minutes to draw out the juices. RESERVE the tomato juice in the bowl for the dressing.
Cut cucumber into any shaped chunks aroun 2.5cm / 1" pieces. Again, I like to do irregular but even-sized shapes.
Toss veg: Place tomato sweating in colander into large bowl. Add cucumber and basil, toss gently.
Tomato Dressing: Add Dressing ingredients into bowl holding the tomato juice, whisk well.
Dress salad: Add bread to salad, pour over dressing. Give it a light toss.
Rest then serve: Leave for 5 minutes to let the juices soak into the bread, tossing once or twice. Toss once more just before serving!
