Tuscan Bread and Tomato Soup (Pappa al Pomodoro)

By Martha Rose Shulman

Tuscan Bread and Tomato Soup (Pappa al Pomodoro)
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
4(189)
Notes
Read community notes

Pappa means pap, which is what this soup is. If you ever needed proof that stale bread needn’t go to waste, this soup is it. And this stale bread recipe can be made with canned tomatoes, so you can make it throughout the year. When the weather is hot, you can serve this at room temperature.

Featured in: Recipe: Tomato Soup With Bread (Pappa al Pomodoro)

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Ingredients

Yield:Serves 4 to 6
  • 1pound stale country bread
  • 2tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1small onion, chopped
  • 2 to 3garlic cloves (to taste), minced
  • 1½pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped, or 1 (28-ounce) can, with juice
  • 1tablespoon tomato paste
  • Pinch of sugar
  • Pinch of sugar
  • ¼teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 4cups water
  • 2 to 3tablespoons slivered fresh basil
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

283 calories; 8 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 44 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 9 grams sugars; 10 grams protein; 903 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    If your bread is too hard to cut, douse it with water first. Then remove the crusts and cut into cubes. You should have about 7 cups.

  2. Step 2

    Heat the oil in a large, heavy soup pot over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for about a minute, until fragrant. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have cooked down, about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning.

  3. Step 3

    Stir the bread cubes into the tomatoes. Add the water, half the basil, and about 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer and simmer, stirring and mashing the bread, for about 10 minutes, until the soup is thick, like oatmeal. Stir in the remaining basil, taste and adjust seasoning. Serve hot, warm, or room temperature.

Ratings

4 out of 5
189 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

QuakerWildcat

I don't understand why you would instruct people to cut the crusts off the bread. I've made this with long rustic baguettes (50% crust) so stale they're hard to cut into. Perhaps it will take more than the recommended 10 minutes simmer time, but they definitely break down, and the texture and flavor will be great. Don't waste half your bread. AND don't forget to drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on it before eating. Yum.

Annamaria

Delicious and authentic Italian,
exactly as my Tuscan aunt makes it. Just add some cloves (5/6 for this recipe) and cook the bread in the sauce for a couple of minutes before adding vegetable broth (instead of water)

Joe Bruno

People like to embellish ("tweak") ancient recipes. Some add chicken stock to linguine & clams too. Nothing wrong with that, but the urgency of a dish made from very little is inevitably lost.

jnyc

This recipe is incredible! I personally don’t like to cook with sugar, so I added some red wine to the recipe instead which seemed to work wonderfully.

Nancy

I love this recipe as written; it’s a great way to use up bread. Today, I tried a riff on it by omitting the sugar and basil and adding ginger, chopped collard greens, and large amounts of Indian-inspired spices including: mustard seed, cumin, coriander, turmeric, fenugreek, asafetida, and curry leaves. I thought it was quite successful. In addition to loving the taste of Indian-inspired cuisine, I enjoy the aesthetics of seeing piles of colorful spices.

Sallie

I took everyone's suggestions and made a very memorable soup that a group of people loved. It's almost always the easy meals that make the most memories.

Mi

This 'soup' was born from the poor, there is no way they would have cut off the crust! Also, replace the water (4c is way too much) with homemade vegetable broth for added flavor.

herschel

in florence, antico fattori (maybe still there) served this half and half with ribboliti...so great!

jedley

Definitely use vegetable or chicken stock in place of the water. Otherwise spot on.

Alma

Made full measure of tomato sauce but had less than half the bread. I still needed all the tomato sauce. Broke two eggs on top to make a mealroke two eggs on top.

Nancy

I love this recipe as written; it’s a great way to use up bread. Today, I tried a riff on it by omitting the sugar and basil and adding ginger, chopped collard greens, and large amounts of Indian-inspired spices including: mustard seed, cumin, coriander, turmeric, fenugreek, asafetida, and curry leaves. I thought it was quite successful. In addition to loving the taste of Indian-inspired cuisine, I enjoy the aesthetics of seeing piles of colorful spices.

jnyc

This recipe is incredible! I personally don’t like to cook with sugar, so I added some red wine to the recipe instead which seemed to work wonderfully.

Paula

I was looking for something to use some very ripe tomatoes. I read this recipe and took it as grandmas use up what you have. I had left over Hawaiian hamburger buns, some potato bread and hot dog buns. Cubed them and dried in the oven before using. Also had a cup of left over home made marinara sauce which I subbed for one cup of the water. Otherwise I followed exactly including basil from my garden. It was awesome! A great base recipe, one I’ll use over and over again.

Jennie

My tweaks: I kept the crusts on my ciabattas (ciabatte?), and used chicken broth instead of water. Also, I used the immersion blender first on the tomato-onion mixture, and later to break down the last of the bread. It was a very crowd-pleasing soup--warming, filling, super-flavorful, and very slightly exotic comfort food.

Joe Bruno

People like to embellish ("tweak") ancient recipes. Some add chicken stock to linguine & clams too. Nothing wrong with that, but the urgency of a dish made from very little is inevitably lost.

Nina

A new favorite, great weeknight dinner that uses up your stale bread and usually wont require a trip to the store. Instead of onions (which upset my stomach) i started by sauteing a fine diced carrot and celery stalk then added double the garlic called for. I only had whole canned tomatoes so before i added the bread i pulsed it all with my immersion blender to smooth out the bigger chunks. I also used broth instead of water and drizzled with olive oil to serve.

QuakerWildcat

I don't understand why you would instruct people to cut the crusts off the bread. I've made this with long rustic baguettes (50% crust) so stale they're hard to cut into. Perhaps it will take more than the recommended 10 minutes simmer time, but they definitely break down, and the texture and flavor will be great. Don't waste half your bread. AND don't forget to drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on it before eating. Yum.

Annamaria

Delicious and authentic Italian,
exactly as my Tuscan aunt makes it. Just add some cloves (5/6 for this recipe) and cook the bread in the sauce for a couple of minutes before adding vegetable broth (instead of water)

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