Pappa al Pomodoro Recipe - Tuscan Tomato and Bread Soup
Pappa al pomodoro is an ancient Tuscan soup made from tomatoes and stale bread born out of the cucina povera - the poor man’s cooking, the idea of preparing good, hearty and cheap food with local ingredients.
Ingredients
- 8.8 oz stale bread such as ciabatta (or if you're in Tuscany, Tuscan bread) (250 g)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
- 1/2 carrot
- 1/2 stalk of celery
- ½ medium onion, or 1 small
- 1 28-oz can tomato puree* (800 g) or 18 oz fresh tomatoes
- 1 large clove garlic crushed
- 1 tsp salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 15-20 basil leaves
Instructions
- Slice the bread and soak it in cold water for 5 minutes or so. Squeeze out all the excess liquid and crumble the bread. Set aside.
- If you are using fresh tomatoes you will need to peel them by scoring them (meaning putting a small, shallow slit with a sharp knife on the bottom of the tomato) and putting them in a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove them with a slotted spoon and you will see how the skins just slide off (if you want to speed up this process you can cool them quickly in an ice bath). Transfer the peeled tomatoes to a bowl and crush them with your hands.
- Heat the oil in a large pot, preferably with a heavy bottom, over medium-low heat.
- Peel the garlic clove and crush it with the back of your knife to release its juices and aroma. Peel the garlic clove and crush it with the back of your knife to release its juices and aroma. Finely chop the carrot, celery and onion. Add the chopped carrot, celery, onion and a pinch of red chili flakes and gently cook for about 10 minutes until the onions are translucent and the vegetables are soft. Add the garlic and cook for another two minutes until fragrant.
- Add the tomatoes, bring to a simmer and cook on low heat for about twenty minutes. Remove the garlic cloves
- Add the crumbled bread to the tomato mixture and stir, being sure all the bread is coated well. Add about a cup of hot water and continue to cook for 10-20 minutes, stirring every so often to be sure the bread is not sticking to the bottom and that it is breaking down well (help it along by probing it with your wooden spoon and eventually using a whisk to help the whole mixture become one creamy mess).
- Taste for salt and pepper. Add if need be.
- Turn off the heat, tear up the basil leaves with your hands and stir them in.
- Let sit for at least an hour.
- Ladle into bowls, generously drizzle plenty of extra virgin olive oil and tear a few more basil leaves for good measure. Serve warm or at room temperature
Notes
*If you are not in Italy this may be hard to find. Just get canned peeled tomatoes and puree them either with a blender, food processor or immersion blender.
Notes and Tips:
- Be sure to use the best extra virgin olive oil you have to finish the soup. For the cooking, you can use a lesser quality but ideally, you want to be using really good oil if it’s accessible.
- Plenty of olive oil is the secret to this recipe. Don’t skimp - it may seem like a lot but you need it for taste really flavor.
- It can stick to the bottom after you add the bread so stir it often.
- Be careful not to burn the garlic, carrots, celery and onion. Keep the flame low and stir frequently.
- Authentic pappa al pomodoro does not call for chopped fresh tomatoes or roasted cherry tomatoes as a garnish on top.
- Whisk the bread into the tomato mixture with a whisk to create a creamy texture.
- The soup should be hearty and thick. If you accidentally added too much water or the fresh tomatoes you used were extra juicy, just throw in an extra slice of bread to soak up the liquid and thicken it up.
- If the soup is too thick, going in the direction of a hummus, then add a bit of water to thin it out.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!