Eichkatzerl's Tuscan tomato soup

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 kg tomatoes, ripe
• 4 garlic cloves
• 7 slices of white bread, coarse, stale (not toast!)
• 1 handful of basil
• salt and pepper
• Sugar
• olive oil

Instructions

Working time approx. 15 minutes; Total time approx. 15 minutes

Pomodoro Dad

Wash the tomatoes, halve them, remove the calyxes, and cut into pieces. Peel and roughly chop the garlic cloves. Dice the white bread. Pick off the basil leaves and chop them finely. Reserve the stems. Heat olive oil in a pan (do not overheat) and sauté the tomatoes. Add the garlic and season with salt, pepper, and sugar to taste. Add the basil stems and bread, and pour in just enough water to cover everything. Let the soup simmer gently for about 30 minutes. Now remove the tomato skins and herb stems. Add the chopped basil and season again to taste. Finally, stir in a generous splash of olive oil (or pour it over the soup in bowls) and serve immediately. Pappa di Pomodoro is a classic poor man’s dish from Tuscany that once again makes a virtue out of necessity. Only a few ingredients are used to create a quite tasty dish. This soup is rarely found in restaurants these days, as it’s often considered too simple and “not fancy.” I’ve only been lucky enough to find it in a few country inns.