As Emiko Davies says in her wonderful recipe book ‘Florentine’, Pappa al pomodoro is probably one of the most ancient dishes that appears on every Florentine trattoria menu. Originally it would have been made without tomatoes and was known as 'pancotto', which literally translates to ‘cooked bread’. Every household and every trattoria will have a slightly different recipe - some won’t use onions, some will use leeks, chilli, cloves or fresh tomatoes. So feel free to tweak and make it your own following the basic principal of using up what you have on hand. And with this in mind, here is our own take on this classic dish, using some our of star Oil Merchant products of course. And it wouldn’t be a Tuscan soup if it wasn’t topped with a healthy drizzle of Laudemio Frescobaldi.
Ingredients:
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Ravida Sea Salt
Laudemio Frescobaldi
Colonna Peperoncino Olive Oil
White Wine (Or water)
Veggy Stock
700g A jar of Pomodoro di Colonna (or tinned tomatoes)
A handful of basil leaves
350g stale bread
Slowly cook the onion and garlic with a pinch of salt in the peperoncino oil until they are translucent. Add a splash of white wine and continue to cook until the liquid has evaporated.
Add the tomatoes and vegetable stock and cook together for about 20 minutes.
Before taking the soup off the heat, add the stale bread and torn basil leaves. Season as required.
Let the soup sit covered off the heat for an hour. Stir occasionally. Add a little more stock if necessary to ensure it has a think porridge like consistency.
This soup can be served hot or cold. Always drizzle with the best olive oil you have.