PAPPA AL POMODORO !

The tomato soup is a poor dish of peasant origin. 

It is excellent in winter because it is a hot soup and in summer because you can eat it at room temperature too. 

The main ingredients are: Tuscan bread,

peeled tomatoes, garlic, basil and oil.

INGREDIENTS (four people) 

- 300 gr of bread 

-1 l of soup

-10 leaves of basil

-pepper 

-olive oil 

-garlic

-1 spoon of sugar

-salt 

-800 gr of tomatoes 

PREPARATION 

Cut the Tuscan bread in thin slices (1) than toast them in the oven at 200 degrees for some minutes.

Remove the bread from the oven and rub them with the garlic(2).

Boil the tomatoes in boiling water for around 1 minute (3). 

Then take the tomatoes out and peel them with a knife (4) .

Sieve the tomatoes and place them in a container. 

Place the bread in a pan (5) 

So pour the tomato sauce on the bread  (7) and the vegetable broth too (8).

Add some salt, pepper, and some sugar (9) and cook at low heat for 40-50 minutes, until the liquid has evaporated. 

Stir well for trasforming the bread into a "pappa" (10) . 

Add the basil leaves (11). Pour the pappa al pomodoro in a bowl (12) and add some extra virgin olive oil too. 

THE DISH IS READY!!! :) 

                                        Simona Cilino. 

Pappa al Pomodoro

Here's a first dish of the Florentine traditional peasant cooking.
Ingredients:
-Stale bread (Tuscan bread baked in a wood-fired oven would be perfect)
-Ripe tomatoes
-Basil
-Garlic
- Extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper
First, stir fry the garlic in the oil, then add the tomatoes cut in a large pieces. Mix well and add the chopped basil (or the whole leaves), some salt and lots of pepper. Let it cook for about ten minutes, and then add water or some vegetable broth. Bring to a boil and cook for another 5 minutes, then add the bread cut into pieces and boil for another 5 to 10 minutes. Add some more salt and pepper if necessary, then add some more basil and turn the fire off. Let the "pappa" rest in a covered pot for about an hour and serve with some olive oil. This is the traditional recipe which includes garlic, but there are different varations. Pagani Alice