Pappa col pomodoro
Difficulty
Easy
Preparation time
20 minutes
Cooking time
45 minutes
Serves
4 people
Pappa col pomodoro is another traditional dish of Cortonese peasant cuisine that allows reusing bread leftovers. Stale unsalted Tuscan bread is the main ingredient of this recipe and it is soaked with tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Within the province of Arezzo this dish is generally prepared by using onion instead of garlic.
Fun fact: “pappa col pomodoro” became famous in the whole of Italy in the 1960s when the book “Il giornalino di Gian Burrasca” written in the early 1900s by Florentine writer Vamba was turned into a TV series whose main theme song by Nino Rota called “Viva la pappa col pomodoro” (literally Long live the pappa col pomodoro!) became a big hit.
Ingredients
- 300 grs stale Tuscan bread
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 liter broth
- pepper
- 500 grs ripe tomatoes
- 8 basil leaves
- salt
- extra virgin olive oil
Preparation
- Put oil and cloves of garlic in a saucepan.
- When garlic starts browning, add diced tomatoes and basil leaves roughly cut with your hands.
- Add salt and pepper to your taste and cook for 15 minutes.
- Pour in hot broth and add sliced bread.
- Let cook over a low flame for 10 minutes, turn off the heat and let cool down.
- Serve with a drizzle of oil.
