Buy or harvest a mix of tomato colours and shapes and, if you can, a couple of different basils. Salted capers, carefully washed, burst with flavour, so look for those rather than pickled. Many recipes tell you to deseed tomatoes, but the jelly round the seeds has the most intense flavour (and along with the skin is the most nutritious part) — so don’t.
Food styling by Rosie Birkett
Props by Linda Berlin
Serves: 8 people (as a starter)
INGREDIENTS
01 Put one large tomato aside and chop the rest, some quite finely, others coarsely. Place in a sieve over a bowl to catch any juices.
02 Tear the bread into chunks and place in a bowl. Season the juices with garlic, black pepper, oil and vinegar, and pour over the bread. Add the tomatoes and stir. If the bread still looks dry, add more oil.
03 Put a layer of the bread and tomato mix on a large plate and add some capers, anchovies, onions, olives, herbs and, if you want, chillies. Add another layer of bread and tomatoes, then more capers, anchovies, olives and so on.
04 Leave the panzanella to rest for at least an hour. Add more basil and one freshly chopped tomato just before serving.