Pappa Al Pomodoro (Italian Bread And Tomato Soup)

Pappa al pomodoro is a super easy yet delicious thick bread and tomato soup typical of Tuscany, Italy. It is made with very few and simple ingredients and it can be eaten cold, at room temperature or warm.

Pappa al Pomodoro is typical of Tuscany, precisely from Florence. and it is one of the most popular dishes of the region. It is a very “poor” dish as it is made with very few and inexpensive ingredients: stale bread, tomatoes, vegetable stock, garlic, olive oil, herbs salt and pepper.

The word “pappa” in Italian means the food that is given to babies when they are learning how to eat. It’s a food that is soft and dense, just like this soup.

In this recipe, we use canned tomatoes, which means you can make the soup all year long. Like most simple Italian traditional recipes it’s the quality of the ingredients that make this simple dish. High-quality olive oil and tomatoes are the key here.

WHY YOU WILL LOVE THIS BREAD AND TOMATO SOUP

I have always loved this soup and I hope you will too, because it’s:

• Full of flavour
• Easy and relatively quick
• Good to reduce waste and use stale bread
• Comforting and great in all seasons

INGREDIENTS

• Stale bread. The traditional recipe requires unsalted Tuscan bread but any type of bread will work. In my case, I had wholemeal bread and it worked great. The only important thing is that the bread is stale or dry for a few days.

• Canned tomatoes. The tomatoes are the main ingredients and you try to find the highest quality. Brands like Mutti and Cirio are Italian brands internationally available.

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil. High-quality olive oil is another crucial ingredient. Choose extra virgin and oil quality, possibly Italian.

• Basil, This fresh herb grows in the summer or warm places so for this recipe, I didn’t use it as it’s winter for me. Herbs are essential to flavor the soup. I used a mix of Italian herbs but use fresh basil if available. Thyme or rosemary are also good.

• Vegetable stock. Stock breaks down the bread and adds flavor. It can be homemade stock or you can use bouillon powder or cubes.

• Salt and pepper and garlic for flavor

PAPPA AL POMODORO STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

• Toast the bread. Cut your bread into slices or break it apart if it’s too hard, place it on a baking tray and put it in the oven for about 5 minutes at 200C. Then rub some garlic on it, this will enhance the flavours in the soup.

• Make the soup. Add olive oil to a heated pot and then add the slices of toasted bread.

Cover everything with tomato passata, salt, pepper, herbs (fresh basil if available) and vegetable stock.

• Cook slowly. Cover the pot and cook on low heat until the bread is soft, about 30/40 minutes, stirring from time to time to check it doesn’t stick to the pan.

• Serve. Place in bowls and top it with some olive oil and herbs or basil
  

SUBSTITUTION

• Tomato passata. I love this recipe because it can be made all year round thanks to canned tomatoes. Although you can also use fresh tomatoes, and you need to cook them with olive oil on the pot before adding the bread.

STORAGE

Pappa al pomodoro can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for 2/3 days.

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?

Please let me know how it turned out! Leave a comment below, give it a rating or share your recreation on Instagram and tag me at  @recipesandplaces or use the hashtag #recipesandplaces

I love to see recreations and share them!