800 gripe tomatoes (e.g. San Marzano tomatoes)
1 l vegetable stock
2 garlic cloves
1 small bunch of basil
300 g Tuscan bread
1 tsp sugar
olive oil
salt and pepper
Pappa al pomodoro
The ideal companion: L'Alano
Aromatic tomatoes, fresh basil, quality olive oil – these are the summer flavours of a dish that, despite (or perhaps because of) its simplicity, served together with a glass of lightly chilled Alano produces a real feeling of Tuscany.
Ingredients
Preparation
Preparation
Briefly roast the bread slices in the oven, remove and rub with garlic. Place in a low pan. Boil the ripe tomatoes in hot water for 1 minute then dip in cold water and peel. Cut into pieces, remove the seeds and sieve. Add to the pan containing the toasted bread together with the vegetable broth and season with salt, pepper, sugar and olive oil. Cook everything together slowly for approx. 50 minutes, then garnish with fresh basil leaves and serve.
Tip: this typical Tuscan summer dish can also be enjoyed lukewarm. Pappa al pomodoro is one of the classic Tuscan “bread soups”, such as “ribollita”, that tends to be eaten in winter. Stale bread is traditionally used: genuine Tuscan bread is unsalted and therefore quickly becomes hard. It can however be softened very easily by adding liquid without, unlike salted bread, becoming mushy.
