Weekend's Panzanella

A classic salad such as this Italian beauty deserves top notch quality ingredients. A trip to the cheese merchant, artisan bakery and farmers' market is in order. A savvy cheese steward will direct you straight to the bocconcini without missing a beat! Make haste! From Weekend Magazine.

• Ready In: 15 mins
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1  loaf  day old  Italian bread, cut into 1 inch cubes (or any similarily textured bread such as French or foccacia)
• 2  garlic cloves (elephant garlic would be super!)
• 3 -4  medium  heirloom tomatoes, cut into 1 cubes
• 1  persian cucumber, quartered crosswise, cut into 1-inch slices
• 1⁄4 cup capers, drained
• 1⁄2 red onion, thinly sliced
• 3  tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1⁄2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
•  fresh ground black pepper
• 2  cups mozzarella cheese, balls (in Italian it's bocconcini)
• 10  fresh basil leaves (FRESH-not dried!)
•  lemon, wedges

Directions

1. Grill slices of the Italian bread on both sides until {lightly} toasted. Cut one garlic clove in half and rub the slices of bread with the garlic. Once bread is cool, break up into bite size pieces and set aside. Finely mince both garlic cloves.
2. In a large bowl combine the minced garlic, tomatoes, cucumber, capers, red onion, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss the ingredients and set aside for 1-2 hours to marinate.
3. Stir the bread {gently} into the tomato mixture. (NOTE: Stir in the cubed bread *just* before serving or the salad will turn to mush if prepared too far in advance. Best eaten within several hours.).
4. If the salad appears too dry, add a little bit more olive oil and vinegar to moisten, about 1 tablespoon of each. Top with the mozzarella balls and garnish salad with the fresh basil and lemon wedges.