PAPPA AL POMODORO

Took a fantastic trip to Florence with a new, young, female entrepreneur ANNALISA FERRARI who grew up in Florence and now takes groups to cooking demonstrations in her friends villas in Florence and Tuscany as well as museums and best of all shopping trips to the PRADA factory outlet as well as Gucci and many others.  What a trip!  If you want to organize a private group of 6-10 people, I strongly encourage you to do this.  Check out AFERRARIKITCHEN.

One day we went to this villa in the hills of Tuscany into a beautiful, old, classic kitchen and learned this soup - PAPPA AL POMODORO.  It's easy, really satisfying, can be made a day in advance, served hot or room temperature.

PAPPA AL POMODORO

(Tuscan Bread Soup)

Serves 6-8

10 cups Tuscan bread (crusty rustic bread)

½ cup olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 leeks, cut in half and sliced* mostly white and light green part

1 can Italian Plum Tomatoes (28 oz.), crushed

bunch of fresh basil (approx. ½ cup), torn

4 cups (32 oz.) vegetable broth (or beef)

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Optional:  fresh grated pecorino cheese

Cut bread in small cubes - leave out to dry - like Thanksgiving stuffing.

Add olive oil to soup pot, garlic, and leeks.

* LEEKS – be sure to clean carefully – peel first 2 layers away, cut in half crosswise so you can see into all the layers – rinse out all of the sand – this is very important!  I don’t use the darker green parts as they are too tough.

Cook gently on low for approximately 10 minutes – until golden.

Add bread and cook about 5 minutes – mix with a spoon occasionally.

Add tomatoes – I like to buy whole peeled and then put them in the blender – you can also buy chopped.

Add basil and simmer for 3-5 minutes – Italians never cut basil they gently tear it in pieces.

Add hot broth – start with 3 cups – you can add more if you need to.

Cover and gently simmer approximately 30 minutes – stir often until creamy consistency.  Add more warm broth if you need to.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

This soup, like all soups can be made one day in advance.

Serve hot or room temperature with grated cheese on the side for guests to add to their bowls if they like.