Saturday 16 March 2013

Hard Bread Heaven

Insalata di Pane Rustica, con Uva Fresca, Pera, Feta, Rosmarino e Menta
Rustic Bread Salad with Grapes, Pear, Feta, Rosemary & Mint


Don't you ever throw away that stale bread! There is nothing worse than throwing out good food- well actually... there is. You can also throw out perfectly good food that can be made to be more delicious even than when it was fresh! Especially if the food we are talking about is bread!

You are probably familiar with the Italian "bread salad", known as "Panzanella", made with ripe tomatoes, basil, onion, water and olive oil... just let that stale old bread soak up all of those good flavors and it becomes something quite fantastic! Well here is a different creation- something I came up with this evening to take advantage of the lovely seedless grapes and crispy pears I picked up from the market... combined with herbs and Feta cheese an absolute delight!


This was really easy to make- the only prep-work required was to toast the bread- a couple of small, left-over crusty rolls in this case. I tore them into bite-sized chunks, lightly drizzled them with olive oil and popped them under the broiler until they were crisp and golden brown. 

I cut the pear into thin slices and also halved the grapes to coax out the juices and layered everything up, bread, pear, crumbled feta and sliced grapes on my serving dish. I added small and tender rosemary tips and a few mint leaves, seasoned with salt and pepper and drizzled the salad with olive oil, honey and lemon juice. 

Is it necessary to tell you that the result was simply delicious? That you are going to love it? Nah, I didn't think so either! Go ahead next time there is bread left over and give it a try... I am sure you will really enjoy it... I know that I did!

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