Torn bread, tomato, roast lemon salad with sumac and toasted pine nuts

TOSSED BREAD TOMATO SALAD  | Sumac, lemon and juicy ripe tomatoes is all it takes in this Middle Eastern salad

In this salad, the bread takes centerstage. True that there are many variations of tomato salads but very few involve roasting lemon pieces and bread together. Spruce this up with some citrus-tasting sumac and a generous drizzle of a high quality extra virgin olive oil on top of some juicy sweet ripe tomatoes (choose heirloom if you can), and you will have a simple summer salad that is simply irresistible .

Torn bread, tomato, roast lemon salad with sumac and toasted pine nuts

PREP TIME: 10 min | ACTIVE TIME: 20 min | TOTAL TIME: 30 min | YIELDS: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 medium lemons, thinly sliced crosswise
• 4 cups day-old bread, torn into rough bite-sized pieces
• ½ cup + more extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp sumac
• 1 tbsp salt flakes
• 6 – 8 medium sized ripe tomatoes, thickly sliced crosswise
• 2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
• 1 cup basil, freshly torn
• freshly cracked black pepper

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 200˚C.
2. Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil and cook the lemon for 2 minutes. Drain and run under cold water to chill.
3. Toss lemon with the torn bread, ½ cup extra virgin olive oil, sumac and salt flakes together in a bowl.
4. Evenly spread over a baking tray and bake in the oven for 20 minutes, tossing halfway to ensure even browning. Allow to cool.
5. Toss sliced tomato with olive oil and torn basil leaves.
6. On a platter, layer slices of the tomato with the basil and the bread lemon mixture. Sprinkle toasted pine nuts on top. Serve drizzled with more extra virgin olive oil and freshly cracked black pepper.