pappa al pomodoro
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Loading...Pappa al Pomodoro is a "family" recipe, a simple comfort food that we prepare for our children and for the people we love most. "Pappa" in Italian means baby food and refers to the particular consistency of this dish, creamy and velvety, given by the mix of bread and tomatoes. It is not a soup, actually, but a dish that has no equal and that is typical of Florence and all of Tuscany, where it is served both warm, as a "first course", and at room temperature, as an appetizer to spread on bread.
Ingredients
- Tomatoes 1kg of "Piccadilly" or "Roma"
- White Bread 400gr possibly stale (a few days old)
- Leek 1
- Carrot 1
- Celery 1
- Garlic 1 clove
- Balis
- Sugar 1 teaspoon
- Salt & Pepper
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Instructions
First, let’s make a vegetable broth. Wash all the vegetables, peel carrots and leeks, cut in pieces the celery and put them in a pot with plenty of water. Bring to a boil
Meanwhile, slice the bread into very thin slices and arrange them on a paper-lined plate. Put in a hot oven for about 10 minutes, until they begin to brown. If you love garlic, rub the surface of each toasted slice with a clove, but be careful not to overdo it
Make a small cross incision on each tomato, on the stalk side, so it will be easier to be peeled, and dip all of them into the boiling stock. Let them cook no more than 2 minutes, the time it takes to see that the skin splits and begins to peel off.
With the help of a ladle, remove the tomatoes from the water and cut them coarsely. I use scissors, but you can slice them, pass through a vegetable mill but do not blend to prevent them from becoming a mush. Salt them at this point
Taste the vegetable broth, add salt and filter it through a colander
In a large pot pour a little oil, make a layer of slices of toasted bread, add the chopped tomatoes and a ladle of broth. Repeat making another layer of bread, one of tomatoes and complete with another ladle of broth. Add a little salt, a pinch of sugar, pepper, a few fresh basil leaves and a final splash of oil
Put on the heat and cook over moderate heat for at least 20 minutes: you will have to obtain a lumpy and compact but also soft mixture. I keep cooking under control by stirring often (the pappa tends to stick to the oven of the pan) and adding a little broth if necessary
Let it cool and bring to the table in a large tureen, as the Tuscan tradition dictates, so that each diner can serve himself by adding, if he wants, more salt and fresh oil.
Notes
Pappa al Pomodoro is a recipe that I consider sublime for the simplicity of the preparation, the simplicity of the ingredients, the simplicity of taste and aroma: you know, it is very, very difficult to find so much, with so little ... and just think that this recipe it arises precisely from the need to use old bread, (it would be a shame to throw away) which is thus cooked in tomato broth. Brilliant!
ItalianCookingTips
Bread is very important in this recipe: it must be white, with a crust, possibly stale (a few days old) and “sciapo” without salt, as is the typical bread of Florence
ItalianCookingTips
I tell you a secret: I made this recipe also using canned tomatoes, although Italian and of excellent quality. The result was good and confirms my belief that it is better to use excellent preserved ingredients rather than bad fresh products
ItalianCookingTips
Like many traditional recipes, Pappa al Pomodoro is even tastier if eaten the next day, when all the flavors are well blended.
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