Bread Salad with Summer Vegetables

• 4 or more thick slices country bread, preferably a few days old and fairly dry
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and cut in thin strips
• 1 small or 1/2 of a large English cucumber (about 8 ounces), peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
• 2 ripe tomatoes (about 10 ounces), cored and cut into 1-inch wedges
• 2 plump garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup or so fresh basil leaves (packed to measure), preferably small-leaf Genovese basil
• A small head curly chicory (also called frisee or curly endive), about 5 ounces, leaves trimmed, washed, and spun dry
• A small piece bottarga (see Sources, page 387), or 4 to 6 small anchovy fillets (optional)
• A food processor or blender

1. Cut the bread slices, with crust on, into 1-inch pieces or cubesyou should have about 5 cups totaland put them in a large bowl.
2. (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.)
3. Whisk together the 1/4 cup vinegar and 1 cup cold water, sprinkle it all over the bread, and keep tossing the pieces till theyre evenly moistened.
4. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over the cubes, and toss again.
5. Put the sliced peppers, cucumber, and tomato in the bowl, and toss together with the bread.
6. 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.
7. Pack in the basil leaves, and pulse until they are coarsely chopped.
8. With the motor running, pour in 5 tablespoons of the olive oil in a slow, steady stream to make an emulsified dressing.
9. Drizzle the dressing over the bread and vegetables, and toss well.
10. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon vinegar, and 1 tablespoon olive oil.
11. Tear the chicory leaves into bite-sized pieces, and scatter them over the bread in the bowl.
12. Drizzle the vinegar-oil dressing over the greens, and toss everything together well.
13. 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.
14. Or chop anchovy fillets into small bits and scatter them all over.
15. Serve on a platter or on separate plates.
16. In Liguria, basil grows luxuriously in every garden and naturally plays an enormous role in the regions cuisine, as I discussed in the introduction.
17. 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.
18. Though we dont 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.
19. Fine food and farmers markets (in season) may have sweet basil for cooking in different varieties, colors, and even nuances of flavor.
20. For these Ligurian dishes, look for a classic pesto variety like small-to-medium-leaf Genovese basil.
21. But other types will be fine, too.
22. Try giant-leaved basil (its great for wrapping around fish fillets and stuffing), or purple basil.
23. Basils with distinctive aromas like lemon, mint, and anise are great to cook with; so is spicy Thai or Vietnamese basil.
24. Even better, grow your own fresh basil, perhaps just a small pot on the windowsill.
25. 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.
26. Just keep the plant from flowering and it will last for months.
27. Garden centers and specialty seed companies sell more varieties of Italian basil than even I knew existed.
28. But an ordinary sweet-basil plant like the ones I see in the supermarket will grow well with a bit of attention.
29. 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 processorjust fresh herb leaves and extra-virgin olive oil, nothing elseand freeze it in ice-cube trays.
30. Once it is frozen, pop the cubes out and wrap them in a bit of plastic, then seal the batch in giant ziplock bags.
31. 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!

country bread, redwine vinegar, extravirgin olive oil, red bell pepper, cucumber, tomatoes, garlic, kosher salt, basil, curly chicory, bottarga, processor

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/bread-salad-with-summer-vegetables-372275 (may not work)