Panzanella with Grilled Chicken

📝 Ingredients

• 300 g chicken breast (2 fillets of about 150 g each)
• 150 g stale country bread
• 3 very ripe tomatoes (about 150 g each)
• ½ cucumber (about 150 g)
• 1 red pepper (about 150 g)
• ½ red onion (about 50 g)
• 15 g fresh basil
• 4 tbsp olive oil (1 for the bread, 1 for the chicken, 2 for the dressing)
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Griddle pan or heavy-based frying pan
• Large mixing bowl
• Chef's knife
• Chopping board
• Small bowl

📖 Steps

1. Thinly slice the half red onion and leave it to soak in the small bowl with the red wine vinegar and a pinch of salt. In 15 min it loses its sharpness but stays crunchy; the flavoured vinegar then goes into the dressing.
2. Cut the tomatoes into large chunks over the salad bowl to catch all their juice. Salt generously, mix and leave to stand for 15 min: the salt draws out the juice that will soak into the bread. That's the whole secret of panzanella.
3. Cut the bread into 3 cm cubes. Heat the pan over a medium heat with 1 tbsp olive oil and toast the cubes for 6 to 8 min, turning often, until crisp outside but still slightly soft inside. Set aside on a plate.
4. Slice each chicken breast in half horizontally to make 4 thin escalopes, which will cook quickly and evenly. Rub them with 1 tbsp olive oil, the oregano, salt and pepper.
5. Heat the pan again over a medium-high heat until it's lightly smoking. Cook the escalopes for 3 to 4 min per side without moving them, until well browned and no longer pink in the centre. Leave to rest for 5 min on the board, then slice into strips.
6. Meanwhile, deseed the pepper and cut into thin strips, then cut the half cucumber into 5 mm half-moons. Peel the garlic clove and grate or crush it directly over the tomatoes.
7. Add the onion and its vinegar, 2 tbsp olive oil, the pepper and cucumber to the salad bowl. Mix, then fold in the bread cubes and leave to stand for 10 min, stirring once: the bread should soak up the juices without turning to mush.
8. Taste, adjust the salt and pepper, then add the basil leaves, torn by hand. Divide the salad between two shallow bowls, lay the warm chicken strips on top and drizzle with the juices left at the bottom of the salad bowl.