Ingredients
½ garlic clove, peeled
2 or 3 flat anchovy fillets (preferably the ones prepared at home as below), chopped fine
1 tablespoon capers, soaked and rinsed as described below if packed in salt, drained if in vinegar
¼ yellow sweet bell pepper
Salt
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon choice quality red wine vinegar
2 cups firm, good bread, trimmed of its crust, toasted under the broiler, and cut into ½-inch squares (keep the crumbs)
3 fresh, ripe, firm, round tomatoes
1 cup cucumber, peeled and diced into ¼-inch cubes
½ medium onion, preferably of a sweet variety, such as Bermuda red, Vidalia, or Maui, sliced and soaked as described below
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
Preparation
Mash the garlic, anchovies, and capers to a pulp, using the back of a spoon against the side of a bowl, or a mortar and pestle, or the food processor.
Scrape away any part of the pulpy core of the sweet pepper together with the seeds, and dice the pepper into ¼-inch pieces. Put the pepper and the garlic and anchovy mixture in a serving bowl, add salt, olive oil, and vinegar, and toss thoroughly.
Put the bread squares together with any crumbs from the trimming in a small bowl. Puree 1 of the tomatoes through a food mill over the bread. Toss and let it steep, together with a little salt, for 15 minutes or more.
Skin the other 2 tomatoes, using a swiveling-blade peeler, and cut them into ½-inch pieces, picking out some of the seeds if there are too many of them. Add the soaked bread squares and the cut-up tomato to the serving bowl, together with the diced cucumber, the soaked and drained onion slices, and several grindings of black pepper. Toss thoroughly, taste and correct for seasoning, and serve.
