Panzanella Salad

This is the best version of panzanella ever, thanks to Simon Rimmer, owner of Greens Restaurant and author of The Accidental Vegetarian and I have made loads of his recipes and luckily got my copy signed by the man himself, on my last visit.

1 kg plum tomatoes
2 red peppers
2 yellow peppers
100 g capers
12 large green olives
1 stale ciabatta loaf
4 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove crushed
250 ml olive oil
Salt and pepper
Handful of basil

Serves 6

Skin the tomatoes by putting a cross in the top, place in a bowl, cover with boiling water and leave for about 2-3 mins.   Drain and cover with cold water to cool, so you can handle them.

The skins will easily peel off.   Cut into quarters, scoop the seeds into a sieve over a bowl and press to release the tomato juice.   Put the tomato into a separate bowl.

Put the peppers onto a baking tray in a 200º oven and cook until blackened, then put into a plastic bag and leave to cool.

Deseed and remove the skin from the peppers, cut into pieces and add to the tomatoes, with the capers and olives.  Add any juices from the peppers, to the reserved tomato juice.

Tear the bread into big chunks and put into a bowl.

Add the vinegar, garlic and oil to the tomato and pepper juices, season well and whisk to combine thoroughly.   I lightly cooked the garlic in a tablespoon of the oil beforehand, as I do not like raw garlic and I reduced the amount, as the recipe says five cloves, so if you like garlic!

Pour over the bread and leave for about one hour, so the bread can soak up all the lovely flavours.

Combine the tomatoes and pepper mixture, with the bread and gently mix in the basil and serve.