Make approach for this Italian Tomato and Bread Soup! Wealthy flavors of San Marzano tomatoes, brand new basil, thinly sliced garlic, silky olive oil swirls, and bread cubes all the way through.
Deep, unimpeded, candy tomato taste with swirls of garlic and wealthy velvety olive oil, shiny brand new basil and, pay attention to this, your hunky crusty bread dips are already integrated! Make approach for tomato and bread soup often referred to as pappa al pomodoro.
Pappa al pomodoro hails from the Tuscany area of Italy and is particularly standard and fiercely claimed in Florence and Siena. It necessarily interprets to “tomato mush” and relying on the place you might have it and who’s making it, it could vary in texture from extra of a porridge to a moderately thinner soup or stew consistency like now we have right here. However any approach you might have it, it’s indisputably the entire yum. Simply, it all.
This recipe is from Marika Contaldo Seguso, an Italian cookbook writer, and you’ll be able to to find her unique pappa al pomodoro recipe in Milk Side road.
In This Put up: The whole thing You Want For Tomato and Bread Soup
Components We’re Operating with For This Soup
The factor record for tomato and bread soup like that is all the time superbly brief, each and every taste status by itself. Right here’s what you’ll want for this model:
- canned entire peeled San Marzano tomatoes
- dried or stale bread
- additional virgin olive oil
- garlic
- brand new basil
- vegetable/rooster broth
As a result of there are so few components, you actually need to use top quality substances to achieve height taste. San Marzanos are scrumptious, fruit, and not more acidic than different tomatoes. You’ll need actually just right additional virgin olive oil each for the soup and for the silky drizzles on best for serving. Recent basil versus dried right here. And a just right crusty white bread will do the trick.

Let’s Make Pappa Al Pomodoro (Tomato and Bread Soup)
As discussed, this recipe is a bit thinner than a extra conventional pappa al pomodoro however through all method, if you wish to thicken it up, you’ll be able to modify the broth/bread ratio (or put out of your mind broth altogether and simply let the tomatoes function the liquid) till it’s so thick your spoon stands up! Which, relying on the place you might be, can also be the mark of a in point of fact divine pappa in Italy. You need to additionally skinny it out if this is extra gratifying! Our texture candy spot was once in most cases a one cup of broth in step with ciabatta roll ratio.
Right here’s how we did this one:
- Tomatoes. Get your fingers in there and overwhelm!
- Garlic & Olive Oil. Sauté garlic in oil till aromatic after which upload your beaten tomatoes and let simmer for a little bit. Then upload your broth & basil and stay simmering.
- Bread. Upload dried bread to the tomato/broth combination and simmer till the bread is comfortable. Then you’ll be able to use a potato masher or whisk to stay breaking it down.
- Serve. We served this with additional olive oil drizzles, extra brand new basil, and adequate additionally some Parm, yum!
What Type Of Bread To Use Right here
Italian tomato and bread soup is in truth born of a time the place it was once the worst imaginable crime to let a unmarried little bit of bread move to waste (nonetheless feels correct…we ❤️ bread), even supposing it’s a stale one. So historically, it’s made with very stale Tuscan bread, preferably neglected for a number of days. Tuscan bread particularly is made with out salt (which dates again to the twelfth century when industry traces have been bring to a halt to Florence making salt tremendous dear!) and that supposed the bread went stale moderately briefly. Thus, this soup, and different scrumptious such things as panzanella salad, was once a approach to flip stale bread right into a dream of a dish.
Traditionalists say a no-salt Tuscan bread is the most efficient right here, however this is onerous to search out out of doors of Tuscany, so any crusty rustic white bread would do like:
- ciabatta (we used the rolls, lower up and dried out)
- boule
- any country-style bread
- another rustic Italian or French bread
Your Bread – The Drier, The Higher!
In case you haven’t concept forward and left your bread out (or simply came about to put out of your mind you had bread and it were given stale all by itself! Cross you! That’s no longer an oops, that’s a yay this time!), you’ll be able to lower up your bread and toast it within the oven to dry it out.
- Lower bread into slices/cubes or tear it up & unfold on a sheet pan
- 450 stage oven for roughly 5-7 mins till it’s dry (no longer browned), tossing halfway
However once more, if on a Monday you’re pondering, “Guy, I’d love some tomato bread soup on Wednesday”, toss that loaf at the counter, pal, and simply completely put out of your mind about it!

How To Pick out Out The Easiest Tomatoes For Soup
When you find yourself with a glut of sun-ripened summer season tomatoes in your fingers, THIS IS YOUR MOMENT. All that brand new, unfussed, candy tomato taste is precisely what you need for this, so it’s indisputably no longer the time for any hothouse, low season tomatoes.
In case you’re the use of brand new tomatoes:
- Roma tomatoes are a super choice, however actually any tremendous ripe, candy tomato would do
- Peel them through scoring with a knife, then giving them a drop in boiling water for a little bit, and so they will have to peel simply (tomato skins aren’t actually a enjoyable soup texture wonder)
However when you’re like us, you’ll need this soup simple and also you’ll need this year-round and fortuitously you’ll be able to have it! Because of actually just right canned or jarred tomatoes. Yay for simplicity! That’s how we do.
In case you’re the use of canned tomatoes (like us!), some issues to believe:
- San Marzano tomatoes are tops (very top quality, grown in Italy, decrease acidity)
- entire peeled tomatoes (vs. diced/beaten) are absolute best for optimum style and texture
Crushing Tomatoes By way of Hand
Whether or not you might be the use of brand new or canned, you’re going to need to overwhelm the ones entire peeled tomatoes BY HAND. Sure, that’s proper. Get in there. Now not handiest is it one of those delightfully squashy sensory revel in, it actually will provide you with the most efficient texture. Some chunks of various dimension and sufficient subtle shiny pink liquid.
Whilst you mix your tomatoes, they flip roughly orangish as soon as the air is buzzed into them so if you wish to keep that hyper-fresh, shiny pink, completely textured, fun-to-squeeze, chunky tomato goodness? Roll your sleeves up, pals, and get at it.
(Positive, that you must pop them in a plastic baggie first and squish from there however the place’s the thrill in that?!)
Diversifications On This Tomato and Bread Soup
Although you could get a bit side-eye from any Tuscan, particularly round Florence and Siena, for including the rest however basil, garlic, tomatoes, bread, and olive oil to this soup, there are indisputably techniques you’ll be able to mess around with it! We added Parmesan to ours and it was once scrumptious.
However when you’re already breaking soup regulations, listed here are another issues to check out:
- hefty shakes of beaten pink peppers for spice
- some diced onion or carrot/onion/celery
- oregano
- a dollop of ricotta
Tuscan households may almost definitely combat all day about their pappa recipes. To onion or to not onion, broth or sizzling water or “how dare you”…the record may move on! The simplicity of this dish and its substances is actually what makes it shine although, so don’t be shy to let her stand as she is.
In case you’re a rule-follower and don’t need to mess with soup regulations, you’ll be able to stay the soup easy after which simply accompany it with another lovelies like:
You’ve choices! However you even have swizzles upon swizzles of wealthy olive oil and peppery torn basil and deep tomato taste that already tastes like bread dips. You actually are set.
Superbly easy, brand new, wealthy, and scrumptious. You can’t move improper with this soup.

Italian Tomato and Bread Soup: Regularly Requested Questions
This soup will do ok as leftovers within the refrigerator for 1 day. It could nonetheless be eaten, loved, and no longer too soggy. In case you’re delicate to texture, make the tomato base and upload the bread about 10 mins ahead of serving the soup.
Recent is how you can move right here, if you’ll be able to to find them within the retailer.
Simply use a vegan Parm cheese, when you plan so as to add that during, and use veggie broth.
Description
Make approach for this Italian Tomato and Bread Soup! Wealthy flavors of San Marzano tomatoes, brand new basil, thinly sliced garlic, silky olive oil swirls, and bread cubes all the way through.
- 3 tablespoons additional virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed or thinly sliced
- one 28-ounce can entire peeled San Marzano tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly flooring black pepper to style
- 4 cups vegetable or rooster broth
- 1/4 cup packed brand new basil, chopped or torn
- 2–3 cups dry bread, torn or lower into cubes (see notes)
- Warmth the olive oil in a big pot over medium warmth. Upload the garlic; sauté for 1 minute.
- In a separate bowl, overwhelm tomatoes through hand. Upload them into the pot. Upload salt and pepper. In part duvet and simmer over medium warmth for roughly ten mins.
- Upload the broth and basil; convey again to a simmer for any other ten mins.
- Upload the bread cubes; simmer for any other ten mins till the bread is comfortable. You’ll be able to use a potato masher to additional damage down the bread on your desired texture.
- Serve with Parmesan cheese, additional olive oil, and extra brand new basil! Simplicity and best notch substances… it’s simply surprising.
Notes
For the bread, I’ve been the use of ciabatta take-and-bake rolls as a result of I so hardly ever have a loaf of dry bread sitting round! I toast them within the oven till they’re beautiful crunchy and dry, after which I pull them aside into small chunks so as to add to the soup. My rule of thumb is set 1 cup of broth in step with 1 roll. So 4 rolls = 4 cups broth, 5 rolls = 5 cups broth, and so forth. Clearly expanding the ratio of bread to broth will make the soup thicker, and vice versa! Make it what you need! ❤️
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Prepare dinner Time: half-hour
- Class: Soup
- Manner: Stovetop
- Delicacies: Italian-Impressed
Key phrases: tomato and bread soup, pappa al pomodoro, italian soup