Pappa Al Pomodoro - - Bread and Tomato Soup

Photo: Frank Fariello

Ingredients

1/2 pound Stale Coarse country bread

Sliced/crusts remove

3 Garlic cloves -- crushed

4 To 5 T.

1 1/2 pounds Very ripe tomatoes --

inch Peeled/cut pcs

4 1/4 cups Light chicken stock

Salt and pepper

cup Shredded basil leaves

Olive oil

Preparation

Toast the bread very lightly in the oven so that it dries out but does not color, then break into pieces. Fry the garlic in 1 Tbl. of oil and until it just begins to color, add the tomatoes and toasted bread and cook, stirring, until the bread falls apart and blends with the tomatoes. Now stir in enough hot stock, a little at a time, to get a thick mushy consistency. Season with salt and plenty of pepper, add basil, and simmer gently about 20 minutes,

Claudia Roden's The Good Food of Italy - Region by Region. I love Claudia Roden and feel I know her well. This dish is from Tuscany.

Make this mushy rustic soup (pappa means "mush") only if you have really good country bread, flavorful ripe tomatoes and fruity olive oil.

Serves4

Almost every country that has a rural, rustic or peasant population has a bread soup. Bread was home made and became stale and hard quickly - Nothing was ever thrown away - Bread Soup was a good way to make a delicious, nutritious and appetizing meal that would stick to the ribs. I have recipes from Egypt and other middle eastern countries - Greece, Italy, Spain and France.