Cialledda, Southern Italian Bread Salad

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

We know you've heard of Panzanella but have you ever heard Cialledda? We like to refer to it as Panzanella's southern cousin.

It's another salad for using up stale bread which we love and is made with one unfamiliar ingredient – Carosello.

It's a cross between a melon and cucumber and extremely hard to come by outside of southern Italy (we've never seen it in Tuscany or any northern regions we've visited).

The closest alternative (and what we use) is an English cucumber, peeled and seeds removed.

Toss it with lots of oregano, salt, pepper and good olive oil and you've got yourself an incredibly good and refreshing summer salad!

See the recipe below including notes on ingredients, step by step photos and recipe tips. For the full printable recipe scroll to the bottom or click the recipe link below.

Ingredient notes and substitutions

• Stale bread – white crusty bread that's a few days old works best because we rehydrate it with water. If your bread is not stale you'll need little to no water. Cialledda can also be made with Friselle (stale crispy bread).
• Tomatoes – any fresh, ripe summer tomatoes work well.
• Oregano – we use dried Sicilian oregano that we buy in bunches (see the photo above). You'll find it in any Italian food store or online (linked in the recipe card below).
• Red onion – you can use a regular red onion or Tropea onion (we love them for their sweetness).
• Cucumber – peeled and seeds removed. Traditionally Carosello is used so if you're lucky enough to find one, use that.

Visual walk-through of the recipe

1. Prepare the bread – cut the bread into cubes and add it to a bowl with the water. Let it soak while you prepare the rest of the ingredients (photo 1).
2. Cut the cucumber – Peel the cucumber, cut it in half and remove the seeds. Cut it into cubes and add it to a mixing bowl (photo 2).

1. Prepare the other veg – chop the tomatoes and finely slice the onion. Add them to the bowl with the cucumber then add the bread (photo 3).
2. Toss everything together – add the oregano, olive oil, salt and pepper and toss everything together until well combined and serve (photo 4).

Recipe tips

• Stale bread – if your bread isn't stale you won't need to add much, if any water. If your tomatoes are juicy there will be enough moisture to soak into soft bread.
• 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.
• Variations – some variations of this salad add in olives and/or fresh basil. You could also add canned tuna (in olive oil) to make it more substantial.

More Italian summer salads to try

Salads

Insalata Pantesca (Sicilian Potato Salad)

Salads

Insalata di Riso (Italian Rice Salad)

Salads

Italian Tuna Potato Salad

Salads

Cannellini Bean Salad with Tuna and Tropea Onions

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

• 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

Method

1. 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.

2. Peel the cucumber, cut it in half and remove the seeds. Cut it into cubes and add it to a mixing bowl.

3. 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.

4. Toss everything together until well combined.

5. The salad can be eaten immediately but tastes even better after resting for a few hours.

Kitchen notes

1. 1. Stale bread if your bread isn't stale you won't need to add much, if any water. If your tomatoes are 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.