Pappa al pomodoro
A dish from a cuisine of poverty, in which stale bread was raw material rather than waste. Traditional Tuscan bread is unsalted and readily takes on the flavour of whatever goes into the pot with it. In this soup the bread must break down completely — pappa means "mush", and that is a description of the target texture, not a complaint. The soup is never blended: it is beaten apart with a spoon.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Garlic in oil 5 min
- Tomatoes 25 min
- Bread 15 min
- Resting 15 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneSoften the garlic in plenty of oil
Heat all 100 ml of the oil in a wide pot and cook the sliced garlic with the chilli over low heat for 3 minutes, to pale gold. That quantity of oil is not excessive — without it the soup comes out dry and sharp, because the bread absorbs everything.
Ingredients: 300 g bread · 800 g tinned tomatoes · 4 cloves garlic · 100 ml olive oil · 500 ml vegetable stock · 1 bunch basil · ½ tsp chilli flakes · 1 tsp salt
Pale gold, never brown — burnt garlic embitters the whole pot.Crush the tomatoes and cook 25 minutes
Add the tomatoes, crushing them with your hand or a spoon, throw in the basil sprigs and salt and cook 25 minutes over medium heat. The sauce should thicken and darken — the flavour is built at this stage, because afterwards the bread only absorbs it.
Ingredients: 300 g bread · 800 g tinned tomatoes · 4 cloves garlic · 100 ml olive oil · 500 ml vegetable stock · 1 bunch basil · ½ tsp chilli flakes · 1 tsp salt
Add the torn bread and hot stock
Add the bread torn by hand into uneven pieces (not cut — ragged edges absorb faster) and pour in the hot stock. Stir and cook over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the bread swells.
Ingredients: 300 g bread · 800 g tinned tomatoes · 4 cloves garlic · 100 ml olive oil · 500 ml vegetable stock · 1 bunch basil · ½ tsp chilli flakes · 1 tsp salt
Torn by hand, never cut.Beat the bread apart with a spoon
Without taking the pot off the low heat, beat the soup with a wooden spoon for 5 minutes, until the pieces of bread disappear into one thick, even mass. A blender would turn it into a gluey cream — pappa should have the rough, uneven texture only a spoon gives.
Ingredients: 300 g bread · 800 g tinned tomatoes · 4 cloves garlic · 100 ml olive oil · 500 ml vegetable stock · 1 bunch basil · ½ tsp chilli flakes · 1 tsp salt
A spoon until the bread vanishes — a blender makes paste.Let it rest a quarter of an hour
Take it off the heat and leave it 15 minutes. The bread finishes absorbing and the soup thickens noticeably further — if it is too thick after resting, loosen it with a little hot water or stock, but only now, not during cooking.
Ingredients: 300 g bread · 800 g tinned tomatoes · 4 cloves garlic · 100 ml olive oil · 500 ml vegetable stock · 1 bunch basil · ½ tsp chilli flakes · 1 tsp salt
Serve with raw oil and basil
Ladle into bowls, pour a spoonful of your best raw oil over each, grind over pepper and add fresh basil leaves. That final oil is an important part of the flavour — it is not cooked, so it keeps its pepperiness and scent.
Ingredients: 4 tbsp olive oil · 12 pcs basil · ½ tsp black pepper
Before you start
Warm, not hot
In Tuscany pappa al pomodoro is usually eaten warm or at room temperature, and in summer even cool. Hot, it tastes flatter — cooled, the tomato and oil come through more clearly. Never reheat it to a boil.
Saltless bread, no crust
Tuscan pane sciocco is ideal, but any dense white loaf two days old works. Cut off the crust — it does not break down and leaves hard pieces in an otherwise smooth soup.
Fresh tomatoes in summer
In season use 1.2 kg of ripe tomatoes, blanched and peeled, and extend the sauce cooking to 35 minutes so the extra water evaporates. Out of season a tin of San Marzano is decidedly the better choice.
