Tomato pappa

What better than a local rosé to pair with this easy Tuscan dish? We have selected Vin Ruspo 1596 Barco Reale di Carmignano 2019 Tenuta di Artimino.

Tomato pappa (mush) is a rustic dish that uses stale bread and simple ingredients like tomatoes and extra-virgin olive oil. Its simplicity allows for many domestic variations like using sautéed onions, carrots and celery or toasted bread. Rather than fresh tomatoes, some use tomato purée, especially for the winter version of this typically a summer dish.

Ingredients for 4 people:

Some 300g of stale Tuscan (unsalted) bread, 500g of ripe Tuscan tomatoes (like pisanelli), garlic, basil as desired, 1l vegetable broth, extra-virgin olive oil, salt and ground black pepper.

Directions:

Start by making a traditional vegetable broth using fresh vegetables (potatoes, celery and zucchini) and keep it to the side.

Parboil the tomatoes for a few seconds, cool them in ice water, peel and remove the seeds. Cut the tomatoes into small cubes.

In a broad pot, preferably terracotta, warm 2-4 garlic cloves in EVOO for a few minutes and when they begin to brown add the tomatoes and raise the heat for a few minutes and then lower it again, salt to taste and cover.

In the meantime, cut the bread into small cubes and soak them in the hot vegetable broth. As soon as the crusts have become nicely soft, remove from the broth, squeeze them slightly to eliminate excess liquid and add them to the tomato sauce.

Stir the mush constantly for around 15 minutes, until the bread has dissolved into the sauce, and add a ladle of broth should it become too dry.

Let the mush sit for around an hour.

Before serving (lukewarm of cold), salt to taste and add a generous fistful of basil. Grind pepper on top and trickle over some EVOO.