Favorite Italian Recipes: Pappa al Pomodoro by David Rocco's Dolce Vita

9/10/2018

If there's one thing that we are drowning in at our house (besides Lambrusco wine), it's BREAD. Italians love to have fresh bread at every meal, they even like the excess carbs with pasta because you need it to "fare la scarpetta" which we all know by now, means to sop up every extra bit of sauce on your plate with a piece of bread. As much as I love this habit and its shoe reference, if you took a peek into our pantry it would look like an episode of Hoarders: Buried Alive...in bread. That's why I love the Tuscan cucina povera that calls for whatever leftovers you have and turns yesterday's scraps into today's dinner. Sounds gross right? But put the right magic ingredients together and you can literally create magic in a bowl like David Rocco does. This recipe for his Pappa al Pomodoro can be found in his cookbook entitled "David Rocco's Dolce Vita". In case you don't know David, he's Canada's favorite Canadian-Italian! I know this seems like a strange choice for the topic "your favorite Italian recipe", there's so many to choose from and literally EVERY dish is my favorite, so I thought I'd share one that in it's own way, essentially revolutionized the way I thought about cooking. I think that's the beauty of Italian cuisine, it's ability to take what you have hanging around either in the kitchen or in the garden, swirl in some good quality olive oil, and make a damn good meal out of it!

David Rocco's Tomato and Stale Bread Soup

Ingredients
250mL extra virgin olive oil
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
stale bread cut into pieces
2 cups of vegetable stock (homemade or bought)
salt and pepper
1 kg plum tomatoes with juices
basil leaves

Fool-proof Instructions
Basically you start off by making a soffritto using the bolded ingredients. In case you don't know what this means, it's your base for lots of sauces and soups. You cook all the ingredients until the onions are clear and the other vegetables are soft. Then add the bread. Add some of the vegetable stock and stir, seasoning with salt and pepper along the way. Then add the plum tomatoes, crushing them with your spoon. Cook for 30 minutes and add the remaining stock as you see fit.

BUON APPETITO September Dolce Vita Bloggers, see you at the next one! Please leave a comment and then go and check out the other amazing posts.

This is part of the #DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #10 September 2018 – Favourite Italian Recipe.

Past #DolceVitaBlogger Link-Ups:
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #9 August 2018 - Culture Shock.
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #8 July 2018 - La Dolce Vita
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #7 June 2018 - Hidden Gems in Italy
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #6 May 2018 - Five Italian Words
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #5 April 2018 - The Perfect Day in Italy
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #4 March 2018 - International Women's Day
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #3 February 2018 - A Love Letter to Italy
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #2 January 2018 - Favourite Italian City
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #1 December 2017 - 'The Italian Connection

8 Comments

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Giovanna link

9/10/2018 11:06:06 am

O this sounds so so so so delicious, Jasmine. I have some leftover bread and tomatoes and I know what I'm going to make for lunch now. xx

Carmela Granada link

9/10/2018 08:47:04 pm

This looks so delicious and it's something I can make at home! Pinned it for later. :) #dolcevitabloggers

Cristina link

9/11/2018 04:23:33 pm

Yummy! My Mamma makes something similar but adds zucchine, and the bread is dipped in later. we call it 'ciambotta' and it is one of my favourite comfort foods. I love David Rocco too -makes us italocanadesi proud! Thanks for hosting another great topic! Ciao, Cristina

Laura - Mummy Lauretta link

9/12/2018 10:27:34 pm

I love the idea of using all the leftovers so you don't through them away, we always have pieces of unfinished bread on the side! #dolcevitabloggers

Lucy and Kelly link

9/15/2018 09:14:23 am

We agree on the bread front. We always have bread on the table at Nanna and Grandads house. We've always loved that no matter what they have in their fridge, be it a lot or a little, we know we will always get a fantastic meal. That's what this dish made us think about. You don't waste food in an Italian house!!!! :) <3

Lucy and Kelly xx
www.theblossomtwins.com

Kelly link

9/17/2018 02:24:44 am

I love that "cucina povera" is actually so rich in the sense that it is divine!! Italians are magicians at turning the just a few simple ingredients into the most magnificent dish. There's a TON of tomatoes in the garden right now, so cannot wait to make this dish!!! This will be great for a quick & easy meal on a work night! ;) Thanks for sharing Jasmine!

Kristie Prada link

9/19/2018 11:32:14 am

Oh I love David Rocco. I always use his Pasta alla Norma recipe! This sounds amazing. We never throw bread away. Mainly because we have a panzanella fetish! LOL! Love this recipe, will be saving it! xx

Rochelle Del Borrello link

10/14/2018 02:47:18 pm

Sicilian's never like wasting bread, they consider it a 'deadly' sin. So there are always plenty of ways to consume left over bread from using it in stuffing everything from tomatoes to chickens, crumbing meat and just like this recipe suggests in pasta! It's a shame to waste beautiful Italian bread for sure.

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