I knocked this together from some scrappy bits left kicking about on Boxing Day – the kind of thing that is usually found at any kind of gathering, extended to feed a few more for an extra day. A bit of bread, some tomatoes, some greenery, a dash of oil and lemon and you have yourself a perfectly delicious side dish that’s on the lighter side after a season of excess. I smuggled some olives and odds from a mezze platter into mine for good measure, and it went down a treat. I’ve not costed it yet as it was all raided from someone elses fridge, but I will.
Serves 4
a few slices of bread
100g fresh tomatoes
half a small onion
2 tbsp olives (optional)
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
a small handful of spinach or parsley
a pinch of salt and a little pepper
First tear up the bread into small pieces – or if it is already a little stale, you may like to use a knife. Toss it into a large bowl.
Chop the tomatoes and finely chop the onion, add them to the bread and mix them in. Add the olives or any other mezze bits (you know, the veg-in-oil people have when they’re being a bit fancy) and mix those in too.
Drizzle over the oil and lemon juice, and add the salt and pepper, and give it all another mix to evenly coat the bread. Stand to one side for an hour (the panzanella, not you, silly) to let it soak up all the juices and soften up. You don’t need to put it in the fridge at this stage, as bread and tomatoes are both foods that thrive best at room temperature, but you can if you want to, if you have rogue dogs marauding around with exceptional palates, for example.
Serve at room temperature with the finely chopped greens stirred through.
Jack Monroe.
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