Mix the tomatoes and other vegetables in a separate bowl, and then toss them with the bread. Like most Tuscans, Picchi uses plum tomatoes, the kind usually reserved for sauce. One of my favorite summer pasta sauces is tomato flesh warmed in olive oil for fifteen to twenty minutes. You can of course use any of the heirloom varieties that have greatly expanded the range of ripe-tomato flavors. Peeling is a nicety more important for the standard version, in which the tomato flesh should melt into the bread during thorough soaking, than for the toasted-bread version, in which the tomatoes are mixed with the bread at the last minute.
Yellow tomatoes are generally too watery and wan in flavor.
The green might be pretty, but it tastes terrible. I take the extra step of removing the jelled core section. Parsley leaves, he says, would be equally or even more Tuscan. A quarter cup for six will do for a start, and if you love the oil, you can be more authentically Tuscan and as much as double the quantity. Picchi obtains his every Saturday during pepper season, picked and ground fresh by his father.