Name: Tuscan Tomato Bread Soup {Pappa al Pomodora}
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 2 cans (28 oz./794 grams each) Italian plum tomatoes or ripe red tomatoes, peeled; 4 garlic cloves, crushed; 1 quart (32 oz.) vegetable stock; 300 grams of stale bread; Extra virgin olive oil; Salt and pepper, to taste

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Celebrate the flavors of Tuscany in a bowl with this simple, yet tasty, Tuscan Tomato Bread Soup, known as Pappa al Pomodora. This humble Tuscan dish is a great way to use up stale bread. It is traditionally prepared with day-old Tuscan bread, but can be made with other types of bread.

I’m a fanatical bread baker so I tend to have leftover bread quite frequently. I try to give it away or freeze it before it goes bad, but sometimes I still end up with stale bread.

A couple of weeks ago, I made French Couronne, and the first attempt turned out less than stellar. The flavor of the bread was fine, it just didn’t look very good because it didn’t brown correctly.

Even though it wasn’t a loaf I intended to save or give away, there was no need to waste it. I decided it could serve as the base for this Tuscan Tomato Bread Soup. By the time I got around to making this dish, the loaf was over a week old. It had been resting in the refrigerator wrapped in a plastic bag. It definitely qualified as stale bread.

The first time I made bread soup, it was more like mushy bread or porridge than soup. Bread soup can range in consistency from mushy to a thinner, soup consistency.

Since I had already tried the mushy-type bread soup, this time, I decided to make a thinner soup. I also made this version the traditional way by not including sautéed onions or leeks.

I enjoyed this soup, but after eating it with just cracked pepper on top, I decided it needed a hint of herb flavor. I sprinkled dried Italian seasoning over the top and then heated and served the soup. Adding herbs is not traditional either, but it bumps up the flavor.

This tomato bread soup is very tasty when served with shredded parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. Adding fresh basil adds a nice touch of flavor as well.

Use fresh or canned tomatoes to make this delicious soup

I prepared this Tuscan tomato bread soup in the middle of winter. I didn’t have any fresh Roma tomatoes growing in my garden so I used canned tomatoes. Canned tomatoes will work fine in this soup, but for the best flavor, I recommend using good quality, canned whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes. They are less acidic than other varieties.

When fresh tomatoes are available, particularly vine-ripened tomatoes, they make a wonderful addition to this soup.

Although the canned tomatoes I used said “peeled” on the label, they weren’t so running them through the food mill helped to remove the peels and seeds. I used all of the juices, but feel free to drain the tomatoes if you prefer.

What bread should you use in this Tuscan Tomato Bread Soup?

Traditionally, it is made with very stale Tuscan bread. Tuscan bread is bread that is made without any salt. I happen to like it, but not everyone is a fan of salt-free bread.

For this soup, I went with a non-traditional bread. I used French couronne bread. You can also use any rustic-style Italian or French bread, baguettes, ciabatti, or a country boule (round loaf made with a portion of white and wheat flours).

You can slice or tear the bread into pieces and then toast it to make sure it is really dry; however, the loaf I used was pretty stale so I didn’t toast it.

I started with about 450 grams of stale bread and after removing the crusts, ended up with 300 grams. I almost used the entire couronne for this soup, but not quite. I kept a few slices for another dish.

I enjoyed this traditional version of Tuscan Tomato Bread Soup without onions or leeks, but I think onions would make a very nice addition.