Bread leftover solution: Panzanella

I hate wasting bread. I hate wasting in general, but I don't know what it is about bread, I just can't throw it away. Maybe because I know the works that got into doing it, because I mostly do it myself, but even when I bought it, I just can't do it. As ben Harper wisely sing "I can't afford to lose ,what you resell and throw away".

Normally, it can also give me an excuse to make some french toast in the morning. It's like I "have" to do them, otherwise the bread would go to waste, and maybe because I'm doing such a good deed, the calories won't stick as much... Wishfull thinking is a powerfull tool in my life ;).

My sweet tooth mostly got me considering the sweet version of not wasting bread, like the bread pudding that I've posted here already. Maybe from time to time, I'll consider making croutons to get on a salad or a soup, but mostly, sugar is involved in the process.

So when I read Nigella's book "Kitchen" and found the recipe for an italian salad called "Panzanella", made out of stale bread, I knew there was an other option to try, to use up some extra bread. And what better way to use up some stale ciabatta bread than an italian recipe. Grazie mille Nigella!

Panzanella (based on a recipe from Nigella "Kitchen")

1/2 a Loaf of Stale Bread
1 Red Onion
100ml of Cider Vinegar
1 Clove of Garlic
1 Tin of Peeled Tomatoes
200ml of Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon of dried Basil
1 Tablespoon of fresh Basil
Salt, Sugar

Chop the onion finely in half moons, and place them in the salad bowl you're going to use. Cover them with the vinegar and leave it for 10 minutes.

Cut the bread in cubes and let it sit on your cutting board while you prepare the rest of the salad.

Peel your clove of garlic, mince it and add it to the onions and the vinegar.

I didn't have nice fresh tomatoes, so I used good quality tined one. Chop them up and add them to the salad bowl with the dried basil. Season with kosher salt and a pinch of sugar.

Now add the bread cubes and the oilve oil, using your hand toss and turn all the ingredient together and combine well.

Cover it with cling film and leave it in your fridge for the night. Before serving, add some fresh basil leaves on top.