Tuscan Tomato Bread Salad

I adore this 'salad'! It makes a fantastic meal, especially on hot evenings when you don't want to heat up the kitchen. It is yummy and so pretty!

1 medium, ripe tomato

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cider or white wine vinegar

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (use the best quality you can get your hands on)

3 green onions, sliced thinly

1 clove garlic, minced or pressed

1/2 round loaf rustic bread, can be day but doesn't need to be

Handful of fresh basil leaves, washed and roughly chopped

2/3 cup cherry or very rip tomatoes, roughly chopped

2/3 cup fresh mozzarella (buffalo is most delicious, but soft, creamy cow's milk will do)

A bit extra extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

1) Using a box grater, grate the rip tomato into a bowl. you will be left with the skin and the green viney top-- discard this. Add to the tomato pulp the salt, vinegar, oil, green onions and garlic. Stir and set aside.

2) The bread needs to be a bit hard, so that when you toss it with the tomato dressing it doesn't go completely soggy. Either use day old bread, or slice into bite size chunks and leave out to air dry for a few hours. If time is an issue, you can also grill slices of bread to crisp them up, then cut into chunks.

3) 30 minutes before you are ready to eat, toss the bread chunks with the tomato dressing, tomatoes, basil and cheese and allow to sit for half an hour. Just before serving, drizzle a bit of olive oil over, taste and adjust seasoning with a bit of salt or freshly cracked pepper and give it a good toss.

Serves 2 big main portions or 4 starters.