This article first appeared in Three Monkeys Online Italian edition. To read the original, in Italian, click here.Translated by Three Monkeys Online.

It's a fresh dish, appropriate for the warm season. Extremely easy to prepare, it's a dish that guarantees a successful outcome.It can be served as a starter or as an accompaniment to a tasty, non demanding main course.Underneath, you will find the recipe for panzanella as I recently tasted it during a trip to Umbria.

What you need:

Celery
Tomatoes
Bread croutons
Salt
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar

How you do it:

Carefully wash the celery sticks and cut them up in 1 cm pieces. Also slice the leaves of one stick. Wash and cut the tomatoes. You may use either salad tomatoes or the sweeter Pachino variety.Add the croutons. It is not necessary to toast them in the oven: if you use yesterdays bread, you'll get a nice result.Season with salt, oil and balsamic vinegar.

Before serving, let it rest for at least 15-20 minutes, so that the croutons absorb the aromas of the other ingredients.