Dara Klein’s panzanella recipe

“Panzanella introduces us to the wide variety of Italian dishes created to use up stale bread,” says Dara Klein. “It likely originated as a very simple bread and onion salad, evolving into the dish we know today after tomatoes were introduced to Italy from the Americas in the 16th century.“The Renaissance poet Giovanni Boccaccio was one of the first to mention this Tuscan bread salad, calling it panmollo or ‘wet bread’, and the Florentine painter and poet Agnolo Bronzino described a version made with onions, cucumbers and purslane in one of his poems.“This recipe is based on the panzanella at Tiella. It’s one of my favourite things to eat throughout the warmer months. I like to use stale sourdough or focaccia as they both hold up well against the marinade and don’t get too soggy.”Panzanell