Pappa al pomodoro is a rustic tomato and bread soup from Tuscany. This humble Tuscan dish turns stale bread and ripe tomatoes into a rich, velvety soup. It’s simple, hearty, and packed with flavour. And of course, like most Tuscan recipes, it wastes nothing.
It ‘s a real cucina povera dish. Farmers used what they had — old bread, garden tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil. Nothing fancy. But the flavors? Deep and bold. Every spoonful tastes like summer in the Tuscan hills.
Traditionally, cooks made it in late summer, when tomatoes were juicy, sweet, and bursting with flavour. You then simmer them down with garlic, onion, and extra virgin olive oil. Then they stir in torn pieces of stale bread until it breaks down completely. The final touch? A handful of torn basil and a drizzle of olive oil.
This dish proves that the best Italian cooking isn’t complicated. It’s about letting good ingredients shine. Pappa al Pomodoro does exactly that.
Tips for Making Pappa al Pomodoro
Good quality tomatoes – San Marzano or Fiorentino varieties are best. But a good quality tin of Italian tomatoes is just just as good, and means you can make this tasty soup all year round.
Homemade Chicken Stock – some purists prefer just to use water, but chicken stock really adds depth of flavour.
Stale Bread – perhaps the key to success of this dish is how stale the bread is. Some recipes suggest that the soup tastes just as good with fresh bread. It’s not bad, but using stale bread is critical. And by stale, I mean make sure the bread is completely dry. Ideally rock hard. When you add the bread to the tomatoes and cover with stock, it takes longer for the bread to absorb the moisture. But when it does, you rehydrate the bread completely with pure flavour. It takes longer to absorb the moisture.
Use a whisk – the best way to break down the bread is to use a whisk. This way you break down the harder bits of bread to get a smooth, even distribution of the bread throughout the soup.
Don’t cut the crusts off – this is a rustic Cucina Povera dish. Frugal nonna’s didnt waste the crusts. In fact soaking all the bread in the soup was the point. To make use of all the bread. They do take longer to break down, but it’s worth the effort. And in any case, a few crusts in the soup are actually nice to find here and there.
Buon appetito! 🇮🇹
Also Read
If you are looking for more classic Tuscany recipes, then you might be interested in these posts:
- Trippa all’ Aretina – a tripe recipe from the town of Arezzo, cooked with meat sauce.
- Petti di Pollo alla Fiorentina – simple dish of chicken breast, dredged in flour and pan fried in butter from Florence.
- Crostini Neri – a rustic Tuscan chicken lover pate.
- Tuscan Chicken Liver Ragu – thick parpadelle pasta ribbons in a delicious chicken lier sauce.
Or take a look at my full collection of Tuscany recipes for more Tuscany flavours.
Pappa al pomodoro (Tuscan Bread Soup)
Ingredients
- 75 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion (very finely chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic
- pinch chilli flakes (to taste)
- 2 x 400 gramm tins chopped tomatoes ((preferably an Italian brand))
- 200 grams stale white bread (broken into chunks)
- 400 ml chicken stock ((preferably homemade))
- salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- fresh basil leaves (to garnish)
Instructions
- Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a wide pan and add the onion and a good pinch of salt, and sauté the onion on a low heat until very soft.
- Add the garlic and chilli flakes and cook for 1 minute, making sure the garlic doesn't burn.
- Add the tinned tomatoes to the pan, and a pinch of salt and stir well. Simmer the tomatoes on a low heat for 10-15 minutes until you get a thick rich sauce.
- Add the bread to the pan, then 2 ladlefuls of chicken stock (or enough almost to cover the bread) and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the bread has softened and absorbed the stock and tomato.
- When the bread has started to soak up the sauce, use whisk to break down the bread and mix it into the sauce. Add more stock if needed.
- When the bread has completely broken down, and you have reached a thick but wet consistency, adjust the seasoning if needed and serve with a few basil leaves on top.
