Jack Monroe's panzanella recipe

I love panzanella's thrifty nature. It is an ideal use for stale bread, which softens as it soaks up the juices from the tomatoes and dressing, so it can be made in advance. I tried an extra citrus twist with some orange slices left over from my feijoada recipe – delicious.

(Serves 4) 66p a portion
A fistful of fresh parsley, 13p
A fistful of fresh coriander, 13p
4 tbsp oil, sunflower or groundnut, 45p
Juice and zest of half a lemon, 15p
Pinch of dried chillies (optional), 9p
1 large orange, 30p
4 thick slices of leftover bread, 32p
6 large, ripe tomatoes (approx 450g), 72p
2 tbsp black olives, 22p
Small red onion, 10p
Pinch of salt, 1p

First, make the dressing for the salad. Finely chop half the parsley and coriander, leaving half as whole leaves to toss through the salad. Add the oil, lemon juice and zest, and chilli flakes, if using. Grate in the orange zest, and mix well.

Tear or cut the bread into chunks. Place in a large bowl, then pour the dressing over the top. Roughly chop the tomatoes and orange segments and mix with the bread, then finely slice the onion and add with the olives.

Toss in the remaining parsley and coriander leaves, season and serve.

Jack's tip

The older the tomatoes, the better, making this an ideal recipe for the ones that are turning to soup in the bottom of the fruit bowl.