They say it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all, but I’m not certain I feel that way about this perfect panzanella that made me swoon before it ended up on my kitchen floor, the victim of a Tupperware mishap in the fridge. William Carlos Williams may have found poetry in plums, but my mouth found poetry in this perfect bread salad.

A panzanella is a Tuscan tomato and bread salad, like a big crouton salad. It is carefully constructed with a good thick bread, in my case about a half of a three-day-old sourdough from Little Bear Bread I purchased at the Florence Wednesday Market.

First I chopped and lightly salted end-of-summer tomatoes and let them sit and sweat for about 20 minutes. While the tomatoes stewed, I cubed that bread and popped it into the toaster oven for 10 minutes. All that went into a waiting pool of garlicky olive oil and balsamic in a metal bowl.

I didn’t just let the bread at the bottom soak up the dressing. No, about every eight minutes I tossed it from top to bottom to perfectly disburse the liquids — salted tomatoes and vinaigrette — throughout the toasted bread. At the time I thought I may have been overly precise, but the result was the best panzanella I’d ever made. The pores of the crusty bread were softened so that every bite sent juicy garlic and tomato seeping through them.

Please try and use a good crusty bread for this salad. Torn fresh basil leaves are a nice touch but not necessary. And please, whatever you do, don’t precariously perch the leftovers on a shelf in your fridge. I can still see it happening in slow motion with it spilling all over the floor. I still get wistful when I think about this bread salad.

Ingredients:

4 cups of good bread, hopefully a sourdough from a local bakery, cubed. If the bread is a couple of days old that totally works. It can also be artfully ripped apart into 2-inch pieces.

About a cup of chopped tomatoes, large, grape, cherry, it’s up to you.

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Kosher salt

Two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

Two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

One garlic clove, chopped

(I use garlic-infused olive oil and skip the garlic clove)

Directions:

Add your chopped tomatoes into a large bowl, sprinkle a pinch (half teaspoon or so of kosher salt). Toss. Set aside.

Lay cubed bread on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes in a toaster oven (or large oven) set at 375F. This will crisp up the bread and make it more amenable to the vinaigrette.

In a large bowl add your minced garlic and two teaspoons of vinegar. Using a whisk, slowly drizzle in and whisk your olive oil into the garlic and vinegar so that it emulsifies.

Add your toasted bread cubes, tomatoes, and a good pinch of salt and give a good toss.

For maximum flavor, toss everything in the large bowl, from top to bottom, every eight minutes at least four times.

Serve and enjoy!

Molly Parr lives in Florence with her husband and two young daughters. She’s been writing her food blog, Cheap Beets, since 2010. Send questions or comments to molly.parr@gmail.com.