Stuck with a glut of ripe tomatoes?
Make the Tuscan dish pappa al pomodoro
The first time I had the Tuscan dish pappa al pomodoro, I was in my early 20s, considerably thinner and channeling my inner sophisticate at the famed restaurant Coco Lezzone in Florence, Italy. At the time — let us say 40 years ago — it was the place to be seen for those in the fashion industry. The customers were the definition of Milan chic; I was making an attempt in a Cacharel box pleat skirt and linen sweater.
So I sat alone, shoved in a corner near the entrance, when the mass of bread and tomatoes arrived, the waiter anointed the strange mixture with oil and left me to have the oh-my-God reaction in private.
The first thing I noticed was the texture; it was the most elegant mush I’d ever held in a spoon. Rich with oil, it had body yet wasn’t heavy. Then there was the tempera ture. It seemed like the dish had been cooked and then served on the cooler side of warm, which allowed me to focus on the essential tomato flavor: deep and pungent, yet with the acid tempered by the soothing qualities of bread and oil. And the brick-red color of the humble bread soup was stunning.
You can easily see the roots of the dish in economical farmhouse cooking: You have some old bread, some ripe or canned tomatoes, a few bits of herb, maybe some salt, all thrown into a pot. The genius of pappa al pomodoro is that it’s a bowl of luxuriousness created from thrift.
If you love taking a bit of bread and scraping up the remaining sauce on your plate — what Italians call fare la scarpetta — this dish is for you. To make it, just throw a few slices of toasted bread in a seasoned yet unreduced tomato sauce, stir the mixture a few times, cover and let it all absorb and mingle, then stir it again and serve, maybe topped with a sprinkle of Parmesan.
There are three primary ingredients: ideally, farmers market tomatoes, excellent olive oil and good rustic bread.
To make approximately one quart of what will become your sauce, you’ll want about 3 pounds of ripe tomatoes. Look for tomatoes you love to eat out of hand with salt; you want big flavor.
Good olive oil in sufficient quantity is essential to achieve the voluptuous mouthfeel that connotes luxury. And the sweetness of the tomatoes does the rest.
When it’s done, you can serve the pappa hot, but I love it at room temperature or cold with asprinkle of Parmesan cheese. In the Italian context, this is served as a primo, or asmall first course. But I had it recently for dinner cold from the refrigerator, and I’m still so happy.
Evan Kleiman is a freelance writer.Pappa al pomodoro Prep: 20 minutes Cook: 35 minutes Makes: 6 to 8 servings Extra-virgin olive oil 4 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed 6 sage leaves 3 pounds ripe stewing tomatoes, quartered, stem end removed Kosher salt 5 large or 8 small basil leaves Freshly ground black pepper or red chile flakes 4 slices rustic bread, lightly toasted 1Heat a heavy pot over medium heat until hot. Add enough olive oil ( 1 /2 to 1 cup) to coat the bottom of the pan by 1 /8 inch. Add the garlic and sage; cook until the garlic is aromatic, but before it browns and the sage begins to crisp, about 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes, along with a tablespoon of salt and the basil.
2Cover and cook over medium heat until the tomatoes give off their liquid and begin to break down, checking and stirring the mixture occasionally, about 10 minutes.
3Remove the lid and continue to break down the tomatoes using a potato masher or sturdy whisk. Taste and check the sauce for salt, and add a few grinds of black pepper or a healthy pinch of chile flakes.
4Remove the sauce from heat and run it through a food mill, then place back in the pot and bring to a simmer.
Add half of the bread, torn into big pieces, along with a good drizzle of olive oil. (Don’t worry about the hard crust; it will soften in the sauce.) 5Bring the sauce back to a simmer for a few minutes, then remove from heat, cover and set aside for at least 15 minutes to give the bread time to soften and expand. Stir to check the consistency; for thicker sauce, add more bread, one slice at a time, and giving it time to break down before adding any more.
Nutrition information per serving (for 8 servings): 182 calories, 15 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 13 g carbohydrates, 0 g sugar, 2 g protein, 793 mg sodium, 2 g fiber
So I sat alone, shoved in a corner near the entrance, when the mass of bread and tomatoes arrived, the waiter anointed the strange mixture with oil and left me to have the oh-my-God reaction in private.
The first thing I noticed was the texture; it was the most elegant mush I’d ever held in a spoon. Rich with oil, it had body yet wasn’t heavy. Then there was the tempera ture. It seemed like the dish had been cooked and then served on the cooler side of warm, which allowed me to focus on the essential tomato flavor: deep and pungent, yet with the acid tempered by the soothing qualities of bread and oil. And the brick-red color of the humble bread soup was stunning.
You can easily see the roots of the dish in economical farmhouse cooking: You have some old bread, some ripe or canned tomatoes, a few bits of herb, maybe some salt, all thrown into a pot. The genius of pappa al pomodoro is that it’s a bowl of luxuriousness created from thrift.
If you love taking a bit of bread and scraping up the remaining sauce on your plate — what Italians call fare la scarpetta — this dish is for you. To make it, just throw a few slices of toasted bread in a seasoned yet unreduced tomato sauce, stir the mixture a few times, cover and let it all absorb and mingle, then stir it again and serve, maybe topped with a sprinkle of Parmesan.
There are three primary ingredients: ideally, farmers market tomatoes, excellent olive oil and good rustic bread.
To make approximately one quart of what will become your sauce, you’ll want about 3 pounds of ripe tomatoes. Look for tomatoes you love to eat out of hand with salt; you want big flavor.
Good olive oil in sufficient quantity is essential to achieve the voluptuous mouthfeel that connotes luxury. And the sweetness of the tomatoes does the rest.
When it’s done, you can serve the pappa hot, but I love it at room temperature or cold with asprinkle of Parmesan cheese. In the Italian context, this is served as a primo, or asmall first course. But I had it recently for dinner cold from the refrigerator, and I’m still so happy.
Evan Kleiman is a freelance writer.Pappa al pomodoro Prep: 20 minutes Cook: 35 minutes Makes: 6 to 8 servings Extra-virgin olive oil 4 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed 6 sage leaves 3 pounds ripe stewing tomatoes, quartered, stem end removed Kosher salt 5 large or 8 small basil leaves Freshly ground black pepper or red chile flakes 4 slices rustic bread, lightly toasted 1Heat a heavy pot over medium heat until hot. Add enough olive oil ( 1 /2 to 1 cup) to coat the bottom of the pan by 1 /8 inch. Add the garlic and sage; cook until the garlic is aromatic, but before it browns and the sage begins to crisp, about 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes, along with a tablespoon of salt and the basil.
2Cover and cook over medium heat until the tomatoes give off their liquid and begin to break down, checking and stirring the mixture occasionally, about 10 minutes.
3Remove the lid and continue to break down the tomatoes using a potato masher or sturdy whisk. Taste and check the sauce for salt, and add a few grinds of black pepper or a healthy pinch of chile flakes.
4Remove the sauce from heat and run it through a food mill, then place back in the pot and bring to a simmer.
Add half of the bread, torn into big pieces, along with a good drizzle of olive oil. (Don’t worry about the hard crust; it will soften in the sauce.) 5Bring the sauce back to a simmer for a few minutes, then remove from heat, cover and set aside for at least 15 minutes to give the bread time to soften and expand. Stir to check the consistency; for thicker sauce, add more bread, one slice at a time, and giving it time to break down before adding any more.
Nutrition information per serving (for 8 servings): 182 calories, 15 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 13 g carbohydrates, 0 g sugar, 2 g protein, 793 mg sodium, 2 g fiber
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