members recipes

Chef Paul Collins says: ‘Shallot Cucumber and Tomato Panzanella’ We say: ‘Shallot, Cucumber and Tomato Italian Bread Salad

Ingredients

You’ll need:
½ cucumber
2 Romano peppers
12 cherry tomatoes
6 Echalion (banana) shallots
2 slices of ciabatta/ focaccia
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
100ml good olive oil
8 basil leaves

Method

What to do:

Peel the cucumber, cut in half lengthways and remove the seeds with a teaspoon. Cut into bite sized chunks about 1cm squares. Cut the peppers into the same sized pieces as the cucumber. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half.

Cut the shallots in half-length ways, remove the ‘leaves’ of the shallot, then cut into bite sized pieces of about 1 cm squares.

Cut the bread in to bite sized pieces, place on an oven tray with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper then bake at 200c for 5-7 minutes or until just toasted then remove.

Slice the peeled garlic very, very thinly, place into a bowl and add the vinegar and oil.

Place all of the ingredients in to a mixing bowl and mix together well. Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary. Add some finely shredded basil. Then place in to a serving dish.