Cialledda (Southern Italian Bread Salad)

A close up cropped image of a Cialledda salad in a bowl.

No ratings yet

Cialledda is a southern Italian bread salad from both Basilicata and Puglia. It's a refreshing and delicious salad made with stale bread, cucumber, tomato, onion and lots of fragrant oregano. Perfect for summer and so easy to make!

Prep Time10

Total Time10

Course: Salad

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: servings

Author: Emily Wyper

Ingredients

2 large slices (100g/3.5oz) crusty bread
¼ cup (60ml) water
7 oz (200g) cucumber or Carosello
2 large tomatoes
1 red onion
2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper

Instructions

Cut the bread into cubes and add it to a bowl. Add the water and let the bread sit while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
Peel the cucumber, cut it in half and remove the seeds. Cut it into cubes and add it to a mixing bowl.
Finely slice the onion and chop the tomatoes and add them to the bowl with the cucumber. Add the bread, oregano, olive oil and a good pinch of salt and pepper.
Toss everything together until well combined.
The salad can be eaten immediately but tastes even better after resting for a few hours.

Notes

1. Stale bread - if your bread isn't stale you won't need to add much, if any water. If your tomatoes are really juicy there will be enough moisture to soak into soft bread.
2. Good quality ingredients - as with most things the quality of the ingredients make a big difference here. Ripe juicy tomatoes, good bread, dried oregano and a good olive oil make all the difference.

Nutrition