Bread Salad with Summer Vegetables
The traditional Ligurian bread salad condiggion was the highlight of the meal we had in the Cinque Terre a few years ago (as I mentioned in the introduction to this chapter). With many textures from crunchy vegetables, vinegar-soaked bread, and tangy greens, and layers of flavor in the basil and olive-oil dressing—and a shower of dried tuna roe, bottarga, providing a touch of salt and sea—this has become one of my favorite summer salads. It is exceptionally flavorful and refreshing, and a great accompaniment to the grilled meat and fish that I prepare in summer. This salad is also open to variation, so use your favorite greens, vegetables, and even bread. I find that curly chicory, green and bitter, makes the best salad, but you can play with other seasonal greens you find in the market. And if you have some day-old whole-wheat or multigrain bread, that could be delicious here, too. Just make sure it is dry enough to be revitalized by the vinegar and dressing (if too fresh, it will crumble into mush at the bottom of the bowl). In Liguria, where bottarga is a common flavoring element, it is essential to the salad. If you have some, by all means use it (and keep it wrapped well and frozen for long storage). Otherwise, chopped anchovies are a good final addition to the salad, if you yearn for that salty fish flavor, as I do.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 6
Ingredients
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT
Preparation
Step 1
Cut the bread slices, with crust on, into 1-inch pieces or cubes—you should have about 5 cups total—and put them in a large bowl. (If the pieces are not dry and almost crunchy, spread them on a baking sheet and heat it in a moderately low oven until the bread chunks are hard and crisp but not colored; let cool.)
Step 2
Whisk together the 1/4 cup vinegar and 1 cup cold water, sprinkle it all over the bread, and keep tossing the pieces till they’re evenly moistened. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over the cubes, and toss again. Put the sliced peppers, cucumber, and tomato in the bowl, and toss together with the bread.
Step 3
To make the dressing: Put the garlic cloves and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt in the food processor or blender, and pulse to chop the garlic, scraping down the bowl as needed. Pack in the basil leaves, and pulse until they are coarsely chopped. With the motor running, pour in 5 tablespoons of the olive oil in a slow, steady stream to make an emulsified dressing. Drizzle the dressing over the bread and vegetables, and toss well.
Step 4
In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon vinegar, and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Tear the chicory leaves into bite-sized pieces, and scatter them over the bread in the bowl. Drizzle the vinegar-oil dressing over the greens, and toss everything together well.
Step 5
As a final (optional) touch, if you have bottarga, shave or grate about a teaspoon of the dried roe over the top of the salad. Or chop anchovy fillets into small bits and scatter them all over. Serve on a platter or on separate plates.
Fresh Basil: All Kinds, All the Time
Step 6
In Liguria, basil grows luxuriously in every garden and naturally plays an enormous role in the region’s cuisine, as I discussed in the introduction. For this bread salad, where basil dressing is a major element, and for many other dishes in this chapter, I encourage you to find and use the freshest, most flavorful basil that you can. Though we don’t have the good fortune of Ligurian cooks, most of whom can pluck sprigs of intensely flavored, small-leaved basil right from a window box or patio planter, we Americans now have more fresh basil available to us than ever before. Fine food and farmers’ markets (in season) may have “sweet” basil for cooking in different varieties, colors, and even nuances of flavor. For these Ligurian dishes, look for a classic pesto variety like small-to-medium-leaf Genovese basil. But other types will be fine, too. Try giant-leaved basil (it’s great for wrapping around fish fillets and stuffing), or purple basil. Basils with distinctive aromas like lemon, mint, and anise are great to cook with; so is spicy Thai or Vietnamese basil.
Step 7
Even better, grow your own fresh basil, perhaps just a small pot on the windowsill. It will provide you with great flavor for many dishes, especially if you snip back the new shoots when they have four or five bright leaves. Just keep the plant from flowering and it will last for months. Garden centers and specialty seed companies sell more varieties of Italian basil than even I knew existed. But an ordinary sweet-basil plant like the ones I see in the supermarket will grow well with a bit of attention.
Step 8
And whether you grow your own or buy it, I recommend highly that in late summer and fall, or whenever fine fresh basil is abundant in your area, you should make a big batch of basil pesto in the food processor—just fresh herb leaves and extra-virgin olive oil, nothing else—and freeze it in ice-cube trays. Once it is frozen, pop the cubes out and wrap them in a bit of plastic, then seal the batch in giant ziplock bags. Protected from freezer burn, your basil-pesto cubes will provide bursts of fresh flavor in soups, tomato sauces, and vegetable pasta sauces all year long!
