Tuscan bread and tomato stew ‘Pappa al Pomodoro’

Start by scoring the tomatoes then plunge them in a large pot of simmering water for 1 minute. Drain and place them in a bowl of iced water. This process with allow you to pinch the skin off the tomatoes easily. Once they are peeled, roughly chop them and with your hands crush the tomatoes mixture to get out any large chunks, set aside.

Heat up the oil in a large, heavy based pan, add the onion along with a pinch of salt and allow to soften and slightly colour over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook it with the onion for 1 minute, being very watchful as it can easily burn. Drop your tomatoes in, season with salt and mix through. Add the bread and pour in enough stock to fully saturate the bread. Bring to a simmer, then turn the heat to low and cook, covered for 30-35 minutes or until the bread has surrendered into the sauce and turned into a custard-like consistency. During the cooking process, occasionally check to see if the stock has dried out too much, if so, add a little more (water is also ok).

To serve, ladle the soup into four bowl, add freshly ground black pepper, a good drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and top with a generous amount of basil leaves.

Enjoy hot, warm or at room temperature with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.