Sunday, December 30, 2012

Jamie Oliver's Tuscan Bread Salad

I like the look of Jamie Oliver's salads featured in his new 15 Minute Meals cook book, but I'm a really slow cook, and the recipes will definitely take me longer than 15 minutes! Mum and I made this for Christmas dinner with a few shortcuts so I can make the 15 minute deadline.



1/2 ciabatta loaf
1 clove of garlic
4 anchovy fillets
extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
800g mixed colour tomatoes
1/2 bunch of spring onions
1/2 bunch of fresh basil
1 tablespoon of capers
200g jarred roasted red peppers
30g feta cheese




1. Jamie said to toast the bread in a griddle pan but since we don't have one, we just popped the bread in the toaster! Tear into bite size pieces and resist eating them while you are tearing.

2. I used red baby tomatoes which I halved and placed in a salad bowl. Add chopped red peppers, capers and crumbled feta cheese. Not to waste food, I bought exactly 30g of feta cheese from the deli (rather than a pre-packaged tub which are all over 200g) which cost me 25 cents, definitely the cheapest thing I've ever bought!

3. To make the dressing, Jamie said to put the ingredients in a food processor but we couldn't be bothered washing up so we put the ingredients in a bowl and used a hand mixer which worked just as well. Blend until smooth, the garlic, anchovies, 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, the balsamic vinegar and half the tomatoes (we only used a handful because I wanted to eat the tomatoes rather than having a watery dressing), spring onions and basil.

4. Pour the dressing over the salad, toss and enjoy!

It was a filling salad albeit a little too salty for my liking. I'm not sure why Mum picked this recipe since she doesn't like basil ~ so I would recommend using the herb sparingly if you don't like the pungency.


Mum is delighted with her succulent with gorgeous orange and yellow flowers so it definitely deserves a distinguished mention on blog!

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the recipe. I tried it today and it was gorgeous. I used mozzarella instead of feta. The anchovy fillets I got weren't that salty so the salad wasn't too salty at all, it was just right. My family loved it (including my daughter who is very fussy) and I will be making it again.

    The flowers look great too! :-)

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    1. Hello! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. I'm really pleased you tried the recipe and thank you for the tip about using mozzarella, it will certainly reduce the saltiness of the dish. Two enthusiastic thumbs up that your daughter enjoyed it too. Take care :)

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