Special Italian tomato-bread soup

Pappa al pomodoro special

Ingredients 4 persons

1 dl olive oil

2 cloves of garlic sliced

1 teaspoon chili flakes (or more)

1 firm flat (Turkish) bread (old)

10-15 sage leaves finely chopped

0.5-1 liter of boiling water

250 grams of soffritto* (make it in advance) and

500-750 grams of peeled and pureed tomatoes (e.g. Mutti) or

750-1000 grams of peeled and pureed tomatoes

pepper and salt (little)

optionally: a few handfuls of freshly grated cheese

Go on:

Hand blender

Frying pan for toasting the bread

Casserole

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1. Cut the bread into slices and toast them in a frying pan. While toasting, press down a little so that they become crispy. Then break the bread into small pieces.

2. Put the oil with the chilli flakes and the slices of garlic in a large pan and heat the oil lightly so that the garlic simmers slightly. Then add the bread pieces and the sage. Pour the water on top.

3. Start with a little water and see if the bread 'melts'. Each bread needs its own amount. So stir slowly and let it soak up. Don't use too much water or the mixture will become too watery. Don't stir too much either to prevent the porridge from becoming too slimy.

4. Add tomatoes (and/or soffritto) and stir through. Stir well to mix all ingredients. Add pepper and a little salt and taste briefly. Then let the bread soup simmer for 1 hour.

5. Then the "soup" can cool to be used later. Or simmer the soup for 30 minutes and, when reheated, heat for another 30 minutes and then serve immediately with a drizzle of (good) olive oil and some freshly grated parmesan cheese, if desired.

👉🏽 If you want to make larger quantities: take double the amount of everything, but be careful with the oil and garlic. That can quickly become overpowering. If you like a hearty flavor: just double the amount.

👉🏽 Soffritto (250 grams) you make by putting some oil in a pan and lightly fry in it 1 small onion, 1 grated large carrot, 1-2 stalks of finely chopped celery. Then add 1 can (normal size) peeled tomatoes and simmer the goodness gently for about 30 minutes. Puree everything with the hand blender. This is a base. To this you can add spices to taste.

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Nice to know

Italy is famous for recipes using leftovers or pieces of old bread. The same goes for the Pappa al pomodoro. The bread must also be old. If it is not, it can be toasted in small quantities on a griddle so that it does get old and dry. The tomatoes should preferably be soft. The original Pappa al pomodoro is made only with tomatoes. For a slightly firmer taste, soffritto is used in this.