Panzanella and an honesty box.

The freshest tomatoes.

This year’s hot and sunny spell has really brought so many fruits and vegetables.The blackberries are early and everyone seems to have a glut of courgettes! If I had got round to planting some tomatoes and beans they would be dripping with fruits by now I’m certain. I am however astonishingly fortunate. Just over a mile away from my house there is a small roadside fruit and vegetable stand. Filled to the brim with freshly picked goodies. At the moment the glut of  large tomatoes, beans and cucumbers are offered for sale, but on other days I might find yellow cherry tomatoes, squashes, pumpkins and apples. All this, paper bags and an honesty box.

Our local veg stall.

 When I saw that Elizabeth at Elizabeth’s Kitchen was running a blog hop encouraging us all to shop local I jaut had to share this roadside stall with the world. In case you are interested this stall is in an outer London borough, near to a very large and sadly notorious town.

This food blogging challenge was developed to promote local food producers and share our recipes using their produce. This is the place to showcase the wonderful foods available where we live, where ever we live, worldwide.

Panzanella

Panzanella (serves one – I don’t share this dish!)

Panzanella ingredients

In a roomy bowl whisk together a good slug of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, a pinch of sea salt, several grinds of black pepper and a rasp or two of grated garlic. Take a handful of ripe tomatoes. These must be kept away from the fridge as it seems to suppress the real tomato flavour somewhat. Dice into the dressing mixture adding as much of the juice as possible. Stir and set aside allowing the favours to meld together. Take several slices of staling bread. Cut off the crusts, cut or tear into cubes. Heat some vegetable oil in a pan and fry the cubes until golden and crispy. Drain on paper and tumble into a bowl. Quickly pour over the tomato and dressing mix. The bread should almost sigh as you combine the two elements together. Tear some basil over the dish, sit outside in peace with a large glass of wine and imagine someone else is washing up.

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