1/2 lb Stale Coarse country bread
Sliced/crusts remove
3 Garlic cloves — crushed
4 To 5 T.
1 1/2 lb Very ripe tomatoes —
Peeled/cut in pcs
4 1/4 c Light chicken stock
Salt and pepper
1/3 c Shredded basil leaves
Olive oil
Toast the bread very lightly in the oven so that it dries out but does not
color, then break into pieces. Fry the garlic in 1 Tbl. of oil and until
it just begins to color, add the tomatoes and toasted bread and cook,
stirring, until the bread falls apart and blends with the tomatoes. Now
stir in enough hot stock, a little at a time, to get a thick mushy
consistency. Season with salt and plenty of pepper, add basil, and simmer
gently about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve hot with a little
olive oil dribbled over each serving. Chanty’s note – I have made this soup
~ using french bread – I’m too lazy to cut off the crusts. I used canned
stewed Italian plum tomatoes. ( I use an italian brand and right now I
can’t think of the name.) Anyway – I can’t say that it couldn’t have been
better – but it was veryyyyyy good. I served it with bruschetta. From
Claudia Roden’s The Good Food of Italy – Region by Region. I love Claudia
Roden and feel I know her well. This dish is from Tuscany.
Make this mushy rustic soup (pappa means “mush”) only if you have really
good country bread, flavorful ripe tomatoes and fruity olive oil. Serves
4
Almost every country that has a rural, rustic or peasant population has a
bread soup. Bread was home made and became stale and hard quickly – Nothing
was ever thrown away – Bread Soup was a good way to make a delicious,
nutritious and appetizing meal that would stick to the ribs. I have
recipes from Egypt and other middle eastern countries – Greece, Italy,
Spain and France.
Yields
4 Servings