Pappa al pomodoro – Bread soup with a poached egg
Delicious Bread Soup—for a little taste of Tuscany in your kitchen
Making a virtue out of necessity: In the kitchen, this often means combining just a few ingredients to create something delicious—especially when it tastes this good. In Tuscany in particular, bread soup is a popular recipe for transforming day-old bread and rolls (pane e panini) into a wonderfully creamy soup. Pappa al pomodoro is especially comforting when it’s freezing outside and you want to warm up. But it’s also a delicious, light meal in the summer—whether served lukewarm or chilled—and is very popular during the midday heat in Tuscany. The poached egg complements the bread soup wonderfully and gives it that certain “gusto.”
Ingredients
1 can of ORO di Parma whole peeled tomatoes (400 g)
1 fennel bulb
1 clove of garlic
1 chili pepper
1 onion
4 slices of rustic white bread
4 eggs
6 tbsp olive oil for sautéing
Salt and pepper
1 bunch fresh basil
150 ml water
Step 1 : The Preparation
Want to get started right away? Sure thing. So tie on your apron and let’s get going. Use a sharp knife to dice the onions and garlic. Cut the fennel and chili into small pieces. Finely chop the fresh basil leaves as well and set them aside for now.
Step 2 : Bread Soup
It won't be long now before your kitchen is filled with a wonderful aroma! To start, heat some olive oil in a pot and sauté the garlic, onion, chili, and whole basil leaves in it. Over medium heat, the ingredients will really release their full flavor. But be careful: the garlic shouldn’t brown, or it will become bitter.
Once the onions are translucent, add the peeled tomatoes and let everything simmer for about 20 minutes with the lid on. Season with salt and pepper, then add the fennel and bread slices to the pot. To help the bread slices really soak up the delicious, tomatoey flavor from the pot, pour a little water over the bread and then remove the pot from the heat. Covered, the bread slices will soak up the flavor and blend with the aromatic tomato broth. After about 30 minutes, the bread slices will be super soft and can be simmered together with the tomato broth, salt, and pepper to make a creamy soup.
Step 3 : The Finale
To take the pappa al pomodoro to the next level, all that’s missing is a poached egg. To make it, crack the raw egg directly into the soup and then cover it with a lid. The egg will now cook in the pappa al pomodoro for about five minutes, adding even more flavor. Once the egg is poached, you can serve the bread soup immediately and enjoy it. Buon appetito!
