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                                                                                        “ Pappa al Pomodoro”

“Pappa”, or “mush”, was surely one of the poorest dishes imaginable; it was often made from stale bread and nothing more. Pappa col pomodoro, or bread and tomato soup, was, in its time, actually a dish prepared for noblemen. Even this simple recipe, made with good quality ingredients, can produce an extremely tasty meal. 

                                                                                          Ingredients (4 pax)

800g of fresh tomatoes (in summer, San Marzano are the best; in winter, tomatoes dried in the cellar were typically used and still are today), 500g of stale Tus- can (unsalted) bread, a few basil leaves, garlic, fresh ginger or chilli pepper, 4 tbsp. tomato paste, 1 litre of vegetable broth (although originally just water was used), extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.

                                                                                                Preparation 

Pour some olive oil into a saucepan and brown the freshly chopped ginger (or chilly pepper), garlic, and basil. Add the tomato paste and bring to a boil. Pour in the vegetable broth, add thinly sliced stale bread and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove the pot from the flame and leave to rest for an hour. Before serving, mix the contents well and reheat. The pappa col pomodoro may be served cold, warm, or hot. Always drizzle extra virgin olive oil on top before eating. The bread can also be toasted to give the pappa even more taste. There are two schools of thought about this dish: pappa with carrots and pappa without. Adding a few car- rots to the mix will lighten the overall color and give the soup a sweeter flavor.