Panzanella

So what do you do when you have a loaf of crusty bread you baked yesterday and a garden full of ripe red tomatoes and fresh basil?

You make Panzanella!

The bread is an easy no-knead wet dough loaf that rises overnight.  The Basil is Genovese type from Italian imported seeds and the tomatoes are Costoluto Fiorentino, also from Italian seeds.  There is a rule about heirloom garden tomatoes - the uglier and gnarly the tomato - the better and tastier it is - so you can guess that these are spectacular tomatoes!

The recipe? - Oh yeah, the recipe.  If you can't figure it out from the photos...... well - just saying.

OK - not to be rude to the culinary challenged - Cut some of the bread into cubes and dry it out in the oven on a cookie sheet.  300 degrees for 5-10 minutes, or use stale bread.  Drizzle with olive oil. Chop the tomatoes and add them and any juice too.  Tear up the Basil and add that.  Sprinkle a little salt and pepper and toss.  It is common to sprinkle a little red wine vinegar over the finished salad.  I like it that way.  It's also common in Northern Italy to add some shaved Parmesan - which I also like but don't have any..... tsk, tsk.  In Tuscany, where this dish originated, they don't usually add cheese.

How 'bout that food styling backdrop in the photos!  I wanted to hide all the stuff on the kitchen counter - FLASH!  I'll prop up some of my color coded cutting boards!  Yeah lame, I know.  Get over it.  It's less distracting than the clutter on the counter.