Chorizo Panzanella Salad with Poached Egg and Black Lava Salt

Spring is almost here - you can sense it, despite what the great outdoors are trying to convince us of late. We might not be entering full salad territory, the residual cold begging for something a little more boisterous and filling, but that doesn’t mean we can’t bridge the gap and this salad does just that.

It’s hearty with the poached egg and chorizo elements and boisterous enough to stand alone as a meal from breakfast through to dinner, or equally as a side note to a roast chicken or lamb. Basically, this humble number is the dish that keeps on giving and we can’t ask much more than that from a salad.

 Serves 6

Ingredients

Half a sourdough loaf, roughly torn

160 ml red wine vinegar

160 ml olive oil

3 tsp ground cumin

2 large chorizo sausage (spicy), sliced

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large cucumber, roughly chopped

1 medium red onion, peeled finely sliced

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

350g mixed tomatoes or about 4 medium ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped

20 Sicilian (or green) olives

3 tbsp chopped coriander, parsley and basil

3-6 organic, free range eggs (depending on whether or not you want one per serve)

1 generous tbsp fig vincotto

Black lava salt to serve (optional)

Method

Place the bread in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the vinegar, oil, cumin, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle mixture over the bread. Leave for 10 minutes for the flavours to combine.

Preheat oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with baking paper and spread out the bread. Place in the oven and cook for 5-10 minutes or until lightly brown and crisp.

Meanwhile place chorizo on an oiled grill plate of a barbecue or frying pan over medium heat and cook for 2-3 minutes each side. Transfer to a bowl, allow to cool slightly and reserve the oil in the pan for serving.

Bring a large shallow saucepan of lightly salted water to just below the boil over high heat, reduce heat to low. Carefully break eggs into saucepan and poach, spooning water over eggs, until cooked to your liking (3 minutes for soft-poached). Gently remove with a slotted spoon, drain on absorbent paper and keep warm.

Mix remaining ingredients, chorizo and bread, in a large bowl and top with the poached eggs. Spoon over a little of the reserved oil and the fig vincotto and a sprinkling of black salt and serve immediately.